


The Duty of Love

by jjongbluemoon



Category: SHINee
Genre: Comedy, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, M/M, Mutual Pining, Retail AU, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-03-08 03:22:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 41,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18886162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jjongbluemoon/pseuds/jjongbluemoon
Summary: Kim Kibum and Choi Minho despise each other. After being forced together by unfortunate circumstances over the summer, the two begin to develop a mutual bond trying to get their best friends Kim Jonghyun and Lee Jinki together. However, unbeknownst to them, a perfect plot has been conjured to get them together.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, hello there again! I've decided to venture out of my comfort zone and write the longest fic of my writing career thus far. It's a Minkey/Jongyu focus, with Minkey being the main pairing but Jongyu will also get equal writing time.
> 
> This fic is a very loose, very fun, summer filled fic. I really hope you enjoy it.
> 
> If you're new to my fics then here's the gist: I use my works as a means to cope with my own depression and the grief of losing jonghyun. If reading about him is too much, please do not force yourself to read my work. however, if you are like me and see fanfiction as a way for jonghyun to get his multitude of happy endings that he deserves then please enjoy :)
> 
> also, don't be afraid to let me know what you think of the fanfic, but please be kind in your criticisms.
> 
> Thank you if you decide to continue reading!
> 
> I would like to thank three amazing people for their help:  
>  **meltingheart** for beta-reading my final chapters and helping me get onto the right path with my conclusion.  
>  **southview** and **fireflameschoi** for helping me figure out a way to get my minkey into perfect characterisation.  
> All three of these people have been so helpful that I could not do this without them and would have given up long before this was half-way done. These 104,000+ words are dedicated to all three of you.  
> Thank you so, so much <3
> 
> The update schedule for this will be every other Sunday until After the Autumn Rain is complete and then it will be every Wednesday and then every other Sunday.  
> Hope that makes sense <3

He’d been born and bred for this moment, sitting in the auditorium watching as many of his fellow classmates walked up onto the stage to start reciting lines from one of the random plays his drama teacher had plucked from obscurity.

Not that _A Streetcar Named Desire_ was all that obscure, but the only time he had ever heard the play’s title be mentioned was during a small stint he had spent at an American high school back when he was younger. Nothing felt more surreal to hear the western Polish and French sounding names of Stanley Kowalski and Blanche DuBois be uttered between words of chalked up Korean.

It was almost comical if the play wasn’t so serious.

“Thank you, Jino,” the drama teacher droned out, she didn’t look up from her playbook as she read out the next name on the register to audition. “Kim Kibum.”

This was his chance, the chance he needed to prove that the previous year and a half hadn’t be a complete waste of his teacher’s time. He’d come into the college with the least amount of acting experience out of the rest of his class, but had managed to improve further than most in the class in the shortest amount of time.

Kibum grabbed his script and sauntered onto the stage, passing Jino, who slapped his arm with his rolled up script for good luck. Kibum grinned, he didn’t need luck. He needed his talent, and that was all he had.

He stood at the centre stage, on the yellow taped-out x, the work of a teenage stage hand who needed to make some extra pocket change for text books or whatever. Kibum looked over the auditorium. His tiny class was condensed into the first three rows of the plush velvet seats, all of them were either reading through their scripts, waiting to be called up, or were scrolling through their phones because they had already had their chance. Not one single eye was on him, but that didn’t matter, he’d _make_ them have eyes on him.

Kibum took in a deep breath, closing his eyes and counting to three. He didn’t need the script, he’d read the scene so many times he could recite both Stanley and Blanche’s lines in his freakin’ sleep.

“Okay,” the drama teacher began. She lowered her mic a little closer to her mouth and began to read out Blanche’s lines. “How is my sister?”

“She is doing okay,” Kibum replied.

“And how is the baby?”

Kibum squared his shoulders and smirked. “The baby won't come before morning so they told me to go home and get a little shuteye.”

Marlon Brando, eat your heart out.

Kibum continued the snappy back and forth dialogue that Williams was known for writing. His drama teacher even lifted her head up a few times to glance at him, and somehow Kibum got the feeling she was falling back into playing the character rather than just reading the lines.

“Let’s go a little further down the script. I want to see how you’ll do with a few more aggressively charged lines,” the teacher advised and Kibum threw aside his script. The pages fluttered open to scene 5 and Kibum shrugged his Givenchy blazer off, letting it fall to his side.

The teacher started off one of Blanche’s long pieces of dialogues before sitting back and letting Kibum ping-pong off of her speech.

“Was this before or after the telegram came from the Texas oil millionaire?” Kibum asked, his tone becoming a little more acerbic and condescending. The teacher let a smirk grace her features. He’s won this.

“What telegram! No! No, after! As a matter of fact, the wire came just as-“

“As a matter of fact there _wasn’t no wire at all_!” Kibum snapped. A few faces glanced up to look at him, vaguely interested. “There _isn’t no_ millionaire and Mitch _didn’t_ come back with roses ‘cause _I_ know where he is-“

“That’s enough, Kibum,” the teacher then said, holding her hand up. Kibum panted, trying to catch his breath. He was hunched over, throwing his arms around in grand gestures of anger. He straightened himself out and grabbed his blazer and script and walked off the stage.

He smoothed out his hair and pulled his blazer back on as he took his seat back – at the end of the row.

“That was awesome,” Jino whispered in his ear from the row behind.

Yes, Kibum wanted to say, I know.

“Okay, Choi Minho, next!”

Kibum’s euphoria immediately died down the moment that boy’s name was uttered. Choi Minho was the bane of Kibum’s existence: they’d been rivals since middle school, ever since Minho had beaten Kibum out for the lead role in one of the school’s hand-made productions. Granted, Kibum had been his understudy and had managed to get to play the role on closing night thanks to a little food poisoning on Minho’s behalf, but the point still stood. His role, his _dream_ , had been usurped by this giant frog-like individual who couldn’t decide if his hair was too short or too long (he was always either shaving it down or letting it grow out, there was never an in between with him) and spent most of his time on the baseball field or running track or even playing basketball when there wer _e no_ basketball teams to even play for!

There might have been a time where Minho didn’t know about Kibum’s existence and the rivalry had been completely one-sided on Kibum’s part, and he was relatively okay with that – hating an individual from afar – but when Kibum made one too many bitchy criticisms behind Minho’s back to other classmates, Minho immediately turned on him.

They began a feud so famous that the gossip was spread around other schools as well.

Minho did the same as Kibum, walking up to the centre stage and removing his jacket.

“Shall we start from the same place as Kibum? From the wire from the Texas millionaire?” The teacher suggested. “I want to see how you play the lines.”

Minho nodded his head, gripping his script tightly in his hands. Aww, poor Minho, Kibum thought snidely, he wasn’t prepared enough for this role.

Minho cleared his throat, rolled his head back and around to loosen his neck and then threw the script off to the side like Kibum had. Kibum immediately felt hotter than he had under the stage lights. _Asshole_.

“Was this before or after the telegram came from the Texas oil millionaire?” Minho asked quietly, threateningly. It wasn’t too quiet to be missed, but the kind of silence that dared you to question him.

“What telegram! No! No, after! As a matter of fact, the wire came just as-“

“As a _matter of fact_ there wasn’t no wire at all!” Minho boomed across the auditorium. Kibum sank lower in his seat, seething with boiled rage. “There isn’t no _millionaire_! And _Mitch didn’t_ come back with roses ‘cause _I_ know where he is-“

“Oh!”

“There isn’t a god _damn_ thing but imagination!” His voice began to lower in volume again and Kibum could hear the creak of the seats move as students, mainly female, shift forward in completely controlled interest.

 _What a load of crap_.

Minho played off a few more lines and the teacher stopped him there. Minho ejected himself from the stage, not by going down the stairs like everyone else had, but by jumping from the front.

“What a show off,” Kibum muttered out loud. Eunji, the girl next to him who had been chosen to portray Stella, gave Kibum a weird glare.

The teacher gathered her notes and playbook before walking up onto the stage. Her gaze travelled over each of her students. Only the males were left to be picked and seeing as Stanley was the most vital male role in the entire play, it needed to be played by the right person. Her gaze landed on Kibum at the end, Kibum with his powerful interjection and snide expressions, he played Stanley well…

Then she turned to Minho who was leaning against one of the seats, not even bothering to sit down. He had an interesting way of playing Stanley, and interesting was what was needed at the moment.

Her gaze flickered from Minho to the other students and Kibum sat back up in his seat when her eyes worked back over to him for the second time. It had to be him, she couldn’t take her eyes off of him!

“Jinyoung, you’ll be playing Stanley.”

Kibum and Minho immediately let out the same exclamation of protest: “What!?”

Kibum picked up his denim jacket that had been shoved to the side as soon as he had got into the auditorium along with his backpack and immediately walked over to the stage. Minho wasn’t that far behind him. The teacher sank to her knees to talk to them.

“You’re joking, right?” Kibum insisted.

“Kibum, Minho, I understand that you two seem to think yourself the best of the best and do not get me wrong, as students and as actors you are both equally progressing to what can only be called natural stardom, but with this role, neither of you stepped up to the plate.”

Kibum rolled his eyes.

“Maybe next time,” the teacher said with a soft smile. Minho simply nodding, accepting defeat. Kibum stuck around for a few more seconds, his teacher looking at him expectantly, before he kicked himself away, tutting under his breath.

He dumped his bag onto his seat and stuffed his denim jacket inside it, not wanting to wear it when the temperature was enough to boil the tarmac on the road.

“Hey, Minho,” a girl to the left of Kibum spoke up. Kibum barely registered her, his head swimming with rejection and false hope. “If it’s any consolation, you should have been Stanley.”

Kibum immediately looked up, scowling. Seungyeon, who had been lovingly cast as the role of Blanche DuBois, was rubbing at Minho’s upper arm. Her smile was small and suggestive and Kibum felt sick to the pit of his stomach.

“Before you all go, don’t forget to pick up a copy of _Much Ado About Nothing_ from my desk to read over the summer!”

Without another thought, Kibum hitched his bag over his shoulder and snatched one of the scripts from the desk before heading to the big double doors. He stormed out, slamming the giant and ancient, wooden doors against the decaying concrete walls. The sound of the metal handles hitting, and cracking, the wall ricocheted across the hall leading to a few annoyed glances from Kibum’s classmates. Amongst those glares was Choi Smug-ass Minho.

 Kibum sighed to himself, not letting Minho’s face, Minho’s attitude, get to him. It itched under his skin like a scratch he couldn’t get to no matter how hard he dug with his nails. He’d dig and dig and draw blood but the itch would remain there and the itch would constant remind Kibum that he had a long way to go in terms of acting.

He clenched and unclenched his fists, letting the stress melt away as he concentrated on something other than his rejection from earlier. It didn’t matter, summer was, and that meant Kibum would be spending two whole months working at a place he enjoyed for mandatory work service, as well as hang out with his best friends, Jonghyun and Nicole. Maybe they could spend their days off drinking, eating, going out clubbing like any normal college student with freedom.

Maybe, along with the clubbing, he’d visit the gay bar he used to frequent at before school became a little too much for him to balance and catch a cutie’s gaze and then perhaps hopefully he’d successfully have that cutie’s legs in the air and a sweat dripping down his back and my God, Kibum was determined to try and get some action over the summer. It’d been way, _way_ too long.

In his midst daydream, Kibum nearly missed his saving grace sitting in the reception, flicking through a fashion magazine.

Nicole Jung was a Korean-American student who decided to disobey her family’s wishes of studying in the States and instead hopped on a plane to study in Seoul. She came over with barely any knowledge of Korean but luckily for her out of all the student body who knew conversational English that wasn’t just asking for directions or talking about their family, Kibum had been the one to save her.

It had been a match made in heaven.

If Nicole had been a guy, Kibum probably would’ve assumed them to be soulmates. But she wasn’t, and she was incredibly not into guys either.

“Yo! Where are you going?” Nicole shouted as Kibum walked right past her. Kibum stopped immediately and turned on his heel. His once tight face melted into a soft smile and Nicole immediately slipped her magazine into her backpack and leeched onto him, clutching onto his left arm with a death grip.

“Sorry, I… My mind was elsewhere,” Kibum explained. They began to walk in sync together, headed towards the cafeteria. Thankfully lunch was on the agenda and then they had one more class before the half day of summer began. Their final class was philosophy, a class that Kibum thankfully did not have with Minho.

“I can tell. Did the audition not go well?”

Kibum puffed his cheek out in indignation and Nicole clicked on.

“Ouch. Did Minho get it?”

“No,” Kibum said with a smile. “No, he didn’t. The bastard doesn’t deserve the role of Stanley Kowalski. He wouldn’t be able to do the **Stella** line properly anyway.”

Nicole laughed through her nose. “So who got the role?”

“Jinyoung,” Kibum said and Nicole aah’d, nodding her head. “Yeah, well, I’m sure he’ll do fine. I’d do better but whatever…”

“You know, you said that to Yuri back in high school and you wonder why she hated you so much,” Nicole mused.

“Hey! I would have been an amazing Elphaba and you _know_ it!”

Nicole giggled under her breath. “Maybe you would have been but Yuri won the role fair and square.”

“Only because that stupid drama teacher knew that the moment I put that wig on I out did all the girls in that class,” Kibum stated. He rolled his eyes. He worked hard, damn it.

“To be fair, your rendition of _Defying Gravity_ was definitely better than hers,” Nicole agreed, adding fuel to Kibum’s ego fire.

They reached the cafeteria. Jonghyun was already sat at a table at the back, munching on a pre-packaged sandwich. His eyes were distinctly glued onto something that wasn’t Kibum or Nicole. Jonghyun was Kibum’s longest friend, they had known each other since elementary school, when Kibum had been knocked into a muddy puddle by a stray football. Jonghyun had been the only one to help him up and look out for him since then.

“Hey,” Kibum said, sliding into the seat next to Jonghyun.

“Shush,” Jonghyun hushed. He pushed his glasses up his nose bridge and blinked once. Kibum followed his eye trail and found that Jonghyun was, no surprise here, staring Lee Jinki down.

“Careful, with that intense gaze you’ll set him on fire,” Nicole joked as she slid in opposite Kibum and Jonghyun. Jonghyun shifted, tilting his neck to get a better gaze over her shoulder.

“I bet Jinki sets Jonghyun on fire all over,” Kibum smirked. Jonghyun, without breaking his gaze from Jinki, slapped Kibum across the chest. “My boobs!”

Nicole snorted. “I’m going to get some food. Do you want any?”

“Just a simple 6,000 won meal please,” Kibum requested with a pretty smile. Nicole saluted the table before leaving, giving Jonghyun a perfect view of Lee Jinki. Jonghyun took another, small, bite out of his sandwich. The bread opened at the bottom and the chicken mayo filling spilled out onto the table.

“Oh, Jonghyun…”

Jonghyun broke his gaze away for a second to scoop up the filling and shove it into his mouth. Kibum reacted with disgust and shoved Jonghyun hard.

“You are disgusting, dude.”

“Stop hitting me!” Jonghyun hissed, finally turning to stare at Kibum. Kibum huffed out a breath of hot air and turned back to look over at Jinki’s table. Next to him was Lee Taemin, a little music and dance genius who had managed to get in with an early scholarship. The average age of the student body was 20, but Taemin lowered the age to seventeen.

“What do you think Taemin and Jinki are talking about?” Kibum asked, resting his head against his hand. He was bored now.

“I dunno, music probably,” Jonghyun said. Kibum watched as Taemin yapped onto Jinki who gave him a continuous string of patient smiles.

“Nah, Taemin’s wearing a _Mob Psycho_ t-shirt, I reckon he’s talking about anime again.”

“Like you can talk, _Saved by The Bell_ ,” Jonghyun countered with a smirk.

“The nineties are coming back!” Kibum retorted, indignantly. “How dare you!”

“Dude, I can hear you all the way on the other side of the cafeteria,” Nicole said as she approached the table. She handed Kibum a small cardboard box with a plastic container of gimbap, cold fried chicken, and a small salad. She had bought herself a box of juice and an apple.

“Shut up,” Kibum snapped, ripping the film to dig into his average sized gimbap.

“Anyway, Jonghyun, why don’t you just ask Jinki out?” Nicole suggested, biting into the crisp red jewel. Juice dribbled down her chin and she wiped it away with two fingers.

Jonghyun choked on his strawberry milkshake. “No way, I can’t do that.”

“And why not?” Kibum asked as he crunched through the pickled radish accompanying his gimbap.

“Well, for one, Jinki and Choi Minho are dating,” Jonghyun pointed out with an uncharacteristically straight face. Kibum inhaled too early and began to choke on his food. Jonghyun pounded his fist on Kibum’s back until his face was no longer red and his breath no longer laboured.

“Oh, I’ve heard that,” Nicole then added.

Kibum immediately turned back to Jinki’s table where Minho was now joining them with a big plate of three hamburgers. Taemin snatched one from the plate and began to munch happily. Jinki then caressed Minho’s upper arm gently, like Seungyeon had done in the auditorium and Minho gave him a gentle, almost love-sick smile.

Taemin then put his burger down and turned to dig around in his backpack. He pulled out a small figurine of an anime character, talking about it over and over and Minho gave him that same patient smile Jinki had earlier.

“I’m telling you, hyung, it’s one of the best animes I have ever seen!” Taemin shouted, waving his arms wildly.

Kibum snorted.

“And, and, and, this school they go to has this really cool power speech: _Plus Ultra_!”

Kibum hid his grin behind his hand as he let the laughter free.

“Oh, stop laughing, you drama geek,” Nicole chided him. Jonghyun smiled into his milkshake and Kibum scowled. “You do realise people say the same things about you two, right?” She gestured between Kibum and Jonghyun with a playful, malicious grin on her face.

“The same things?” Kibum questioned, he could feel the colour drain from his face. Whatever could come out of Nicole’s mouth would not be good.

“That you and Jonghyun are dating.”

“What!?”

Jonghyun laughed out his nose, spurts of pink tinted milkshake running from his nostrils. “Ow, my nose!”

“Yeah,” Nicole continued, both she and Kibum ignored Jonghyun. “A few of the girls in my fashion design class think you two are cute as hell but they also think you-“ she pointed to Jonghyun – “are sticking you.” She pointed to Kibum.

“What the fuck!?” Kibum exclaimed. For starters, why the fuck would people think such a thing just because both he and Jonghyun are very out gay men? And also, what an insult that just because Jonghyun was stockier than him, that automatically meant that he would top Kibum? No fucking way, Jonghyun was a self-proclaimed bottom through and through.

“That’s gross,” Jonghyun finally reacted. “I’d never fuck Kibum.”

“And you think I’d fuck you?” Kibum countered. He then began to make loud retching sounds and Nicole lowered her head so that the people who were turning around to look over wouldn’t recognise her. Kibum’s fake retching soon turned into real gagging sounds.

“Oh, god, I might puke,” Kibum coughed out.

“I love how the idea of fucking me makes you wanna vomit. Love you too, Bum,” Jonghyun joked.

Kibum snatched Nicole’s juice box and swigged it down until his gag reflex calmed its jets and he wasn’t about to throw up his small gimbap. When he looked up, he noticed that both Jinki and Minho were looking over in confusion.

Kibum’s eyes met with Minho’s expressionless ones. For a second, Kibum didn’t react, a little transfixed in his stony gaze. But he soon snapped out of it, giving Minho a nasty glare. Minho responded with a frown and a shake of his head, turning back to Jinki.

Kibum didn’t want to think about how weird Minho’s reaction was. He didn’t want to think about Choi Minho at all because in an hour and a half, he was free from all that was Choi Minho and school until the end of summer.

And he couldn’t wait for that freedom.


	2. Chapter 2

It was a bright and sunny day when Kibum felt the ominous looming of thunderclouds on his parade. He woke up at seven am and tore open his curtains to let the sunlight paint his room in a vibrant golden shade. He flitted through his wardrobe, picking out a reasonably stylish but still appropriate outfit for his brand new job and then quickly dabbed some bb cream over his freshly washed face before combing through his brows.

He fitted down his denim shirt and sighed at himself happily. He was ready.

“You take way too long to get ready,” Woohyun, his roommate since the start of his university days a year ago, said. Kibum shot Woohyun a look through the mirror and Woohyun retaliated with a goofy smile, cracking Kibum’s shell.

“You gotta look good if you wanna be successful,” Kibum stated, tugging on his shirt once more.

“Is that what they say,” Woohyun muttered. His eyes turned away from Kibum before he reached behind his bed and closed one of the black-out curtains. “Next time, ask before you just open the curtains.”

Kibum frowned, but he wouldn’t let Woohyun’s soggy attitude ruin his glorious day for he was about to start his first ever shift at _Forever 21_ , a place he had been shopping at since he was a high school student. Granted, it was a place he would go to when he ran out of money buying designer labels down Garusougil, but it was a place he adored anyway. The denim shirt he had paired with the fitted black pants and crisp white _Nike_ sneakers had come from _Forever 21_. It had also been on sale at 70% off, but he wouldn’t tell a single soul about that.

Nicole was sitting in the common area eating her sugary cereal as she watched a video on her phone. Nicole lived in the apartment above Kibum, an all-girls apartment that was mostly vacant due to everyone but Nicole having boyfriends. Each apartment block had six apartments attached and two common rooms each, one on the first floor for the floor it sat on, as well as Kibum’s and Nicole’s apartment blocks. The second one was sandwiched on the fourth floor to share between the fourth, fifth, and sixth floor apartments. This was repeated in the right wing as well.

“Good morning,” Nicole said over a spoonful of colourfully dyed wheat o’s. She paused her video and turned to look at Kibum as he strutted across the common room. He then twirled and she whistled. “Very nice.”

“I’m going for the ‘not trying too hard but I’m not a slob either’ look,” Kibum explained with precision and Nicole clapped.

“Well, coming from someone who knows a bit about fashion, you look hella chic, dude.” She then spooned a soggy mouthful into her mouth and crunched down. “So, you excited?”

“Of course I am,” Kibum said, grabbing a carton of orange juice from his side of one of the fridges in the room and poured himself a glass of juice. He put the carton back. “What are you watching?” He pulled up a seat beside Nicole but not directly next to her.

“Oh, it’s just last night’s episode of _Hello Counsellor_ , this guy is pressuring his girlfriend to have plastic surgery because her nose is too big. Turns out he’s an uggo and she should just dump him.”

Kibum laughed through his nose and Nicole pulled one of the dirty tea-towels left on the table to rest her phone against so she and Kibum could share the screen. Nicole scooped spoonful after spoonful of her cereal into her mouth, crunching down to the point where Kibum couldn’t hear what anyone was saying. At the halfway point, Kibum gave up, finished his orange juice and left to catch the subway to Jung-gu. He thumbed through his phone, scrolling through _Instagram_ , as he kept himself steady with a hand looped through a handle. As he scrolled a photo caught his eye, he paused his movement to get a good glance at it.

It was a simple photo of Jonghyun wearing that dumb black hat Kibum absolutely despised because it made him look like a Cavalier, but regardless of the hat, Jonghyun was in a well-lit room, and it looked like he was doing some composition work from the way his notebook was open behind him. In his lap was a small dachshund, Roo, who was resting her chin on his chest, looking up at him with teary eyes.

Kibum tapped twice to like the photo and then commented: _Your dog is fat, bro_.

With a matter of seconds, Jonghyun was on the defence: _She’s fluffy! (Crying face emoji)._

Kibum scoffed and pocketed his phone, Jonghyun ever the delusional individual when it came to his “daughter” as he so lovingly called her.

The train came to a stop at the station he needed to get off at and Kibum calmly walked through the doors as they swung open automatically. He bumped shoulders with a zombie-fied college student who nearly dropped her canvas bag full of books. He turned to apologise but gave up on it when she became lost in the sea of passengers. He would just go with the flow.

He climbed up the stairs, moving in tandem with the morning rush. It was a Friday morning and usually the rush was full of suited-up business people but this time it was full of well-dressed young people on their phones, texting and emailing, and a few tourists trying their best to fit in with the locals.

When Kibum left the station he was met with the warmest sunshine he had ever felt on his skin. He rolled up his sleeves to expose his lower arms, letting his tan skin meet the sun. He wasn’t one for enjoying the sunshine but today he felt different. That’s because he was different, he supposed, he was a working man now at the age of twenty.

Granted, it was a temporary job for two months in retail, but he was working all the same.

Kibum tucked his hands into the pockets of his well-fitting trousers and walked along the street till he reached the biggest _Forever 21_ store in the whole of Seoul (and there were two at least). With a deep breath, he counted to three, getting pushed aside by young women who were entering and leaving the store hurriedly. With open eyes and a calm heart, he stepped through the automatic doors and was immediately immersed in a whole new world.

When he was a customer, he wouldn’t see the mess on the floor, the way customers shoved clothes back in the wrong way, but as an employee, it was all he could see. He made a point to walk past the pile of screwed up white undershirts and made a beeline towards the register where two girls were working. One of them had a neutral cool brown tone curled into soft, beach waves, and the other had hair that looked as if it had started off a brilliant bleached blonde before growing out into light brown roots.

“Hello there,” the curly brunette greeted with a pretty smile. “Thank you for waiting today, would you like a plastic bag for your items?”

The customer grunted a reply of ‘yes’ and the girl immediately began to scan through the items with rapid pace, removing the security tags without even looking before folding everything precisely and sliding it into a plastic bag stamped with the company’s logo. The girl then read the total out, took the money from the customer, and handed over the change in such a swift motion Kibum was sure if he had blinked, he would have missed it. The girl then said goodbye as she handed the receipt over, she opened her mouth to bring over the next customer.

“Hi,” Kibum interjected before she could say anything and the girl looked over at him, bewildered. “My name is Kim Kibum, I’m starting today.”

“Oh, you’re one of the newbies!” The girl announced delightedly. She then pressed a button and a horrendous belling grew around the shop. A girl with a short curly brunette bob appeared out of nowhere.

“Why are you ringing?” She asked.

“I need to take this newbie up to see Boah-unnie,” the girl with curly brunette hair said. The girl with the bob immediately noticed Kibum’s presence and didn’t press the situation any further. She hopped onto the till and took over from the brunette’s position. She greeted the customer with the same smile and greeting the brunette had used previously.

“Wow,” Kibum muttered, feeling a little underwhelmed. He followed the brunette as she gestured him to. They walked around the womenswear department. The girl stopped to fix a vest top hanging off of the hanger weirdly. She then carried on walking, Kibum blinking in complete confusion.

“Oh, I should introduce myself,” the girl suddenly said, turning to look at Kibum over her shoulder. She gave him a pleasant, reassuring smile and said: “I’m Seulgi.”

“Okay… Seulgi,” Kibum said, testing out the name of his new co-worker.

“So, you’re one of the newbies starting for the summer, right. I think the other guy will be here soon,” Seulgi continued.

“Another guy?” Kibum asked and Seulgi grinned.

“Yup, you’re not on your own, how cool is that! In a shop like this where, until now, the work force was 100% female, so you’ll be glad to have another guy on your team,” Seulgi rambled on. Kibum could feel his nerves ease, having another guy around would definitely make working here a little more enjoyable. Who knows, maybe the new guy is also completely gay and finally Kibum would have the summer romance of his life.

Seulgi led Kibum up to the manager’s office and Kibum immediately ceased his day dreaming. He really needed a boyfriend, and fast. Seulgi knocked on the door twice and then opened it up.

One of the managers, this one with long soft, brown hair, looked over her shoulder and smiled at both Seulgi and Kibum.

“Oh, you must one of our new starters!” The manager said. She immediately stood up and took Kibum’s hand, pulling him into the office. “Thanks Seulgi, when the other one comes, just bring him up too.”

“No problem, unnie,” Seulgi said before leaving the office. The moment the door clicked shut on her exist, Kibum realised he was left in the main office with a manager he had never seen before. The manager he spoke to must have been Jimin. He had never heard of a Boah before.

“So, I’m Kwon Boah, I’m the store manager here. Seulgi is one of our key holders along with Wendy,” Boah said, rattling off the duties of everyone but himself. “I think you spoke to my colleague, Oh Jimin, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Okay, so you’re…”

“Kim Kibum,” Kibum said as Boah looked down the register.

“Yes, I see you. Well, it’s lovely to meet you Kibum. Do you have any nicknames or do you prefer Kibum?”

“Well… No, I just prefer Kibum,” he said. He didn’t want to bring back the dead nickname he had back in high school. Not even Nicole called him Key anymore.

Boah quickly wrote his name up on _Paint_ before printing it and sliding into a name tag. She clipped the name tag onto a holographic lanyard with _Forever 21_ printed along it. “Here you go, Kibum, this is your identity whilst you’re here.”

Kibum grinned, holding the shiny new lanyard and name tag. He felt like a whole new person.

“I guess person number two will be a bit late considering I asked both of you to be here by half past and you’re the only one here,” Boah muttered to herself. Kibum slipped his lanyard over his head and quickly took a glance over the rota. Most of the names were unfamiliar until his eyes landed on a name that made him recoil so much he might have been physically burnt by it.

That name happened to be…

“Choi Minho,” Kibum hissed as the office door opened and Minho stepped in with a sheepish smile on his face.

Oh fuck, this summer was inevitably going to suck, monumentally.

* * *

Boah lead Minho and Kibum through the shop, explaining procedures, fire exits, and the one of two first aid kit in the store (hidden behind the till point, the other being in the staffroom). Boah explained that whilst on the shop floor, regardless if clocked in or not, they must maintain a welcoming and pleasant attitude.

“Remember, you don’t have to help the customers when you’re not on shift, but they might still recognise you so try to remain kind and approachable,” Boah said and Kibum nodded. Minho, to his left, shifted a bit on his feet.

“Any questions?” Boah then asked as she reached the till point where Seulgi another girl who happened to be the same girl who had been on the till with Seulgi earlier, with half blonde, half brunette hair.

“Just one,” Minho then said, stepping forward. Kibum resisted an urge to roll his eyes. “Working in this kind of store… Will we be expected to work in the ladies’ fitting rooms as well or…?”

Boah chuckled and both of the girls next to her cracked a pleasant smile. “Of course not. We pride ourselves in making sure our customers and staff are comfortable and if you don’t feel comfortable working in the ladies’ fitting room then we will certainly not put you on it.”

“Okay,” Minho said with a relaxed smile.

“I’ll let Wendy and Seulgi here take over your till training,” Boah then said, handing Minho and Kibum over to the two girls. Wendy, the blonde-brunette mixed, bowed and Seulgi smiled brightly.

“I’ll take Kibum,” Seulgi insisted, reaching out and taking Kibum’s wrist. She pulled him to the last till, the one that looked like it hadn’t been touched in a century. The screen was tilted at an odd angle and a few of the buttons on the keyboard were missing.

“I guess you’re mine then,” Wendy said with a shrug, gesturing Minho to follow her to the fourth till. There weren’t any customers waiting to be served at the current moment thankfully, which made the training a little easier.

Both Seulgi and Wendy went through the process with ease. First, type in the number Boah had assigned them into the till, which both Kibum and Minho did. And then, Seulgi instructed, type in a password. Something you’ll remember but not too easy to guess.

Kibum typed in his birthday. 19912309. Seulgi grinned at him before pressing enter. The transaction menu popped up immediately in bright and colourful buttons. All of them had white writing on them of processes Kibum had no idea how to do.

“I think you’ll be on the men’s till for the rest of the day,” Seulgi said as she ran through what each sub menu meant. It ran over Kibum’s head but he doubted she expected to just remember everything immediately, not even someone like Taemin who was rumoured to absorb information like a sponge would be able to remember something like this effectively and immediately.

“Okay,” Kibum said.

“Oh, a customer. Let’s get some real practise in,” Seulgi said. Wendy was still running through each sub menu with Minho. “Hi there!”

The customer, a young white woman with short dirty-blonde hair walked over to Seulgi’s and Kibum’s till. She dumped three sweaters onto the till with a smile.

“So, when you greet a customer, you say ‘Did you find everything you need today?’.”

“Did you find everything you needed today?” Kibum asked, almost robotically.

“I did,” the woman replied in Korean. “Thank you.”

“Now, ask if she would like a plastic bag,” Seulgi instructed, giving the customer a warm smile. “He just started today.”

“Oh! That’s nice,” the woman said. “I hope you have a good first day.”

“Thank you,” Kibum replied, bowing politely and the woman giggled. “Would you like a plastic bag for your items?”

“Yes, please,” the woman said. She had her purse already in her hand. It was a small one, likely one that she had bought from a night market as it had a super imposed photo of an idol group transferred onto it. The photo had been stretched to the point where the group actually rounded to both sides of the purse, making it look awkward and unprofessional. She could’ve gotten a better looking purse in one of the side shops down Gangnam’s side streets, and for cheaper too.

Kibum scanned through each item and then pressed the total button at the bottom of the screen without Seulgi’s interaction. She watched from the side, keeping quiet, as she bagged the sweaters.

“The total is 24,000 won,” he said, without looking at the customer. The woman handed over a few won notes and Kibum totalled them all through and handed over her change. He then ripped the receipt off and handed it all over to her.

Kibum sighed when she walked away.

“You did really well!” Seulgi said, clapping her hand onto Kibum’s shoulder.

“I just saw,” Wendy added. “You were spot on text-book perfection. You’ll do fine here.”

Kibum smiled at the two girls before looking over at Minho who was reading over the instruction booklet again. His smile turned smug, _take that Choi Minho_ , he thought.

Boah returned a few moments after both Kibum and Minho ran through several successful transactions and returns. She clapped her hands in joy. “I knew you two were going to be amazing!” She said and both boys looked away, bashfully. “I guess you’ll be okay for the rest of the day on menswear.”

Kibum then looked up, horrified. “Together?”

“Yes, of course,” Boah said, smile unaffected. “If you need any help, I think Seulgi will be following you up there.”

“Yes, I am, unnie,” Seulgi said.

Kibum didn’t want to fight against Boah’s  instructions, especially since it was his first day, but the idea of working with Minho for an extended amount of time left him feeling sick to his stomach. Minho, on the other hand, looked completely unaffected and even gave Kibum a small peace offering in the shape of a smile. Like Kibum was stupid to accept such a fake thing.

He sneered. Minho frowned. Kibum smirked.

The two made their way to the men’s department, which was upstairs, guarded off by a glass railing. The men’s area was quieter than the women’s, only a few men were wandering around with some polo shirts and a pair of jeans in their arms, whilst the women accompanying them held a basket full of colourful clothes.

“I’m just going to put some clear rail out,” Seulgi said, having followed them upstairs. “If you need me, just ring the bell, okay?”

“Okay,” Minho and Kibum said in unison. Kibum scowled again and Minho rolled his eyes.

“I don’t like you,” Kibum then said the moment Seulgi’s back was turned.

“Really? I would have thought with all the time you must think about me you actually liked me deep down,” Minho said sarcastically. He leant against the till counter, arms crossed.

“I don’t think about you,” Kibum insisted.

“Sure,” Minho said with a smirk. “And you expect me to think that you just keep staring at me because you hate me? Get over yourself, Kim Kibum, you have the hots for me.”

“Oh, that’s… gross. You’re gross,” Kibum gagged. He then began to retch and Minho dropped his smirk and frowned.

“You’re really-“

Kibum held his hand up to stop Minho and continued to make a point by retching. Minho threw his hands in the air.

“Kibum, can you come help me with clear rail? There’s more than I expected!” Seulgi yelled from the fitting room.

“Sure thing!” Kibum called back. He then gave Minho a haughty, rub it in your face, smile and walked away.

Knowing that he would have to see Minho every day for the next two months left Kibum feeling like the soggy rain cloud Woohyun had been earlier in the morning. He was miserable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! I know I saw i was updating alternating sundays but yesterday was shinee day so this is my way of celebrating <3!
> 
> Thank you so much for the amount of comments and kudos i received for this first chapter, I was a little worried that I had alienated a few of you with the opening being focused on A Streetcar Named Desire, but as I'm sure you've picked up on, drama is going to be a running theme throughout the fic.
> 
> I'm really glad you enjoyed the opening chapter and I really hope you enjoyed this chapter too. The story has officially started rolling like a snowball.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading. See you next Sunday (or Wednesday if you're reading After the Autumn Rain :))  
> Take care
> 
> twitter: @jjong_bluemoon


	3. Chapter 3

_Mee-Cha_ was a small bubble tea and ice cream parlour that had just opened in the dead centre of Hongdae. At first, it had only a select amount of clientele, the girls who enjoyed a cold brewed bubble tea on a warm day, and the tourists who wanted to try what bubble tea actually tasted like. However, when their artistic ice-cream delights began to pick up across influencer Instagram, it suddenly flooded with young girls who were looking for a quick and easy Insta-hype on their feed.

Many of them came from the manicure parlour across the street, nails glittering and glossy as they took photos of the café’s waffle cone coated in deep green matcha ice cream and doused with rich, dark chocolate sauce and topped with small chewy pieces of pastel-coloured mochi.

 _Mee-cha_ also happened to be the place where Jinki would be spending his two months of summer as part of his mandatory work experience for college.

How Jonghyun knew about this was very innocent, no matter what Nicole could imply if she knew, as he had just happened to be walking down that same street during the time Jinki was working and just happened to catch a glimpse of him through the window. At first, he had thought to be dreaming, that his infatuation over Jinki had led him to hallucinate, but when Jinki interacted with a pretty girl with short blonde hair, he had a guess that his hallucinations were saved for when he was dreaming only.

He walked in, immediately put off by the amount of college and high school aged girls sitting around the café, taking photos like some kind of societal exposure exhibition at the local art school. Every single one of them had a colourful bubble tea with pretty pearls bobbing up and down in their drink, or a vibrant and fake-looking ice cream in their hands and were taking photo after photo in the natural and artificial light to see which would look better.

Jonghyun approached the counter where Jinki was waiting. Jonghyun watched as Jinki’s smile halted and his eyes widened in panic. He reached across for something and ended up knocking over a cup of wooden spoons. Jonghyun chuckled behind his hand.

“H-hi there,” Jinki said, jumping back up and straightening his uniform down. “Ho-how can I help you today?”

Jonghyun paused, looking over the menu above Jinki’s head. It was all utter nonsense – he had no idea what bubble tea tasted like and he only really liked the artificial type of green tea ice cream you could get at any convenience store. He ran his tongue over his lower lip and when he looked back down at Jinki, the cashier was immediately red in the face, averting his eyes.

“What do you recommend?” Jonghyun asked, tucking his hands into the pockets of his bomber jacket. Jinki stuttered.

“I-I well… I… don’t like sweet things,” Jinki admitted with a shy smile. “But our raspberry sorbet is the perfect amount of sweet and sour.”

“I’ll take that then. A small one, please.” Jonghyun tilted his head ever so slightly and gave Jinki his trademarked lopsided smile. Jinki, who was typing in the order, let his fingers slip in shock and sighed, having to restart the whole thing again. Jinki kept his eyes down as he typed in Jonghyun’s order meticulously. A small slip of paper printed out with his order and he then moved to the ice cream bar where he scooped out the deep, ruby red sorbet into a small and prettily decorated cardboard tub. He stuck a wooden spoon into the ice cream and then, just as he was about to hand it over, his hand slipped and the red dessert landed on Jonghyun’s cream coloured jacket.

“Oh my god!” Jinki said out loud, clapping his hand over his eyes. Jonghyun glanced down, knowing fully well that it would leave a stain. He shrugged.

“It’s fine, it’s an old jacket,” Jonghyun said nonchalantly. It wasn’t but he was rich enough to just go out and buy a new one if he so pleased. Seeing Jinki so torn up over his little mistake was oddly endearing and he smiled to himself. “Don’t worry about it.”

“But your jacket!” Jinki insisted, pointing at the large red stain. “Isn’t that a designer jacket too?”

Jonghyun froze. “Well, yeah…”

“I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry!” Jinki repeated over and over again. “How can I make it up to you?”

“I… just want my ice cream,” Jonghyun said. In reality, he would have asked Jinki on a date in exchange for the mess he had made but knowing fully well that Jinki and Minho were a thing, he would only get turned down anyway. It was best to just save face in situations like this.

Jinki nodded. “On the house.”

Jonghyun shrugged. He hadn’t even paid for the last one but sure, whatever Jinki wanted. He watched as Jinki, with shaky hands, made up another tub of raspberry sorbet and even put an extra scoop on in apology. He placed it on the counter and let Jonghyun take it this time.

“I’m so sorry about your jacket, Jonghyun,” Jinki said. He bowed. “Please come again.”

Jonghyun grinned, oh he was definitely coming back, even if it was to ogle at the cute boy behind the counter. He made to leave the café when Taemin walked through the door with a big smile on his face. As Jonghyun left, he didn’t think about the fact that Jinki knew his name.

“Whoa, was that Kim Jonghyun?” Taemin asked, watching as Jonghyun walked past the window, digging into his sorbet. When Jonghyun disappeared from sight, he turned back to his brother with a mischievous smile on his face.

“Yes, yes it was,” Jinki replied wistfully. He then looked at the tub of ice cream on the floor where Jonghyun had stood and let out a cry of frustration, covering his face with his hands.

“Why was his jacket all fucked up? I don’t think _Commes des Garcons_ did weird designs like that.”

“They don’t!” Jinki cried out again.

“What did you do to him?” Taemin asked, leaning against the counter.

“I spilled that horrible raspberry sorbet down his jacket like an idiot. Ugh, he must hate me for ruining his jacket like that.”

Taemin shook his head. “You are so whipped, hyung. You should have offered to take him out to dinner for messing up his jacket.”

Jinki dragged his hands down his face, pulling at his eyes and cheeks until he slapped his hands down onto the counter. “No way. He’s dating Kim Kibum.”

Taemin raised a brow. “Wait, he actually is? I thought it was just a rumour.”

“Well, you’ve seen the way they act with each other, it wouldn’t be far-fetched if that was the case,” Jinki replied as he walked over to the back room. He grabbed a mop and then made his way to the melting raspberry sorbet on the floor. Jinki threw the cardboard cup and spoon away in the bin and then mopped up the ruby red juice from the pristine white tiles.

Taemin tutted and kicked himself from the counter. He moved round to the front, drumming his fingers against the countertop as Jinki walked back behind the counter, put the mop away and then washed his hands. Then, Jinki took his order milk-tea ice cream topped with boba pieces in a hand-made waffle cone. Taemin handed over the 10,000 won note to pay for his dessert before putting in his two cents.

“You know I’m watching this new anime,” he said and Jinki nodded, not even looking up. He was used to his brother’s incessant anime watching and manga reading habit. “It’s not a _new_ new one but I’ve never seen it before. It’s called _Honey and Clover_.”

“Taemin, you know I have no idea what you’re talking about half the time,” Jinki said with a soft-hearted grin. Taemin smiled back at him, understandingly.

“You need to watch _My Hero Academia_ with me anyway, you promised you’d watch an anime with me this month like you do every month.”

“I did promise,” Jinki said with a sigh. He grabbed the waffle cone from a small packet to the side and began to load it with the nearly empty tub of milk-tea ice cream. It was a rich caramel colour with flecks edible tea leaves running through it.

“Anyway,” Taemin said, shaking his head. “In _Honey and Clover_ there’s this love triangle between these three characters, Shinobu, Hagumi, and Yuuta.” Taemin counted the characters off on his hand. “Do you know which you are?”

“No… Shinobu?” Jinki asked with a resigned sigh. Taemin nodded his head enthusiastically.

“Jonghyun is Hagumi, and Kibum is Yuuta! You need to change the script so that you become Yuuta and that Kibum becomes Shinobu.”

“Wait,” Jinki said, stopping his movements and staring at Taemin. “Shinobu doesn’t get the girl.”

“No, hyung,” Taemin said with a sad shake of his head.

“Oh,” Jinki said with a slight pout. “That sucks…” He poured a scoopful of boba pearls onto Taemin’s ice cream and then handed it over, the waffle cone wrapped in a paper napkin with _Mee-Cha_ ’s emblem stamped onto it.

“Change the script, hyung! For all love triangles everywhere!” Taemin yelled as he left the café. A few of the patrons turned and stared at Taemin and then glanced over at Jinki who gave them all a shy and embarrassed smile.

Taemin walked past the window and again yelled: “CHANGE THE SCRIPT!”

Jinki waved him off. He’d have to talk to Taemin about making a fuss when he’s at work.

* * *

When Kibum came to work the next day, he felt a lot heavier in his feet. He dragged his priceless _Balenciaga_ derbies across the dirty tiled floor as he made his way to the backroom where he punched the store code into the keypad. The door automatically swung open and Kibum was walking up the stairs with hunched shoulders and a mopey expression.

There was a mirror just outside the staffroom and he took a quick second to place a smile on his face and straighten his back. He walked through the double doors to the staffroom with a bubbly jaunt to his walk. On the sofa sat two girls, one he vaguely recognised from his previous shift with shoulder length, wavy caramel coloured hair and another he didn’t recognise at all. This girl sat with her phone in her hand, as if she was determined to be somewhere else entirely.

“Oh hi!” The girl with the phone in her hand said the moment he walked in. “You must be one of the new guys. You’re either Kibum or Minho.”

“Kibum.”

“Nice to meet you, Kibum,” the girl said. “I’m Soyou and this is Arisa.”

“Hello,” The other girl said. She was cute, with a little mole on the left side of her chin. She held a hand up in a warm gesture of welcome. “I just started a couple of weeks ago.”

“Arisa is a transfer student from Japan, she’s only here for a year,” Soyou explained. Kibum put aside his backpack and made to sit down on one of the stools, waiting for his shift to start. “How long are you here for?”

“Two months,” Kibum explained.

“Ah, mandatory work experience, right?” Soyou said with a solemn nod to her head. “Yeah, I started my job here on work experience but Boah-unnie and Jimin-unnie liked me so much they kept me.”

“Maybe they’ll keep me,” Kibum joked.

Soyou took it literally. “They might do if you do well enough!”

“Oh, I…”

“Those are so cute shoes!” Arisa then said, pointed down to Kibum’s burgundy derbies. “Where did you get them?”

“Oh, they’re…” He didn’t quite know if admitting to his parents’ wealth was a good way to start his second shift at a place like this. “I got them in Paris.”

Well, that certainly wouldn’t help.

“Paris? You’ve been to Paris?” Soyou asked with a raised brow. “That’s so cool. The only place I’ve been to that’s out of the country was Shanghai.”

“I went to Shanghai last year,” Kibum then said and Soyou immediately put her phone down. “Did you get ripped off at the street market too?”

“No way, I ripped them off. I knew what I was buying were fakes but damn if my friends don’t think my _Chapel_ bag is actually a _Chanel_!”

Kibum immediately laughed.

“I’ve never been to China, what’s it like?” Arisa asked, leaning on the sofa’s arm rest. She tucked her long, exposed legs under herself.

“It’s warm,” Soyou said first, finding the right words to explain such a place.

“It’s crowded, like take Gangnam station on a Saturday and times it by 100,” Kibum said. Arisa shook her head. “Imagine Shinjuku station during rush hour and just times that by 50.”

“Oh, that’s crowded,” Arisa said, suddenly understanding Kibum’s metaphor.

“Have you been to Tokyo too, then?” Soyou asked. Kibum hesitated for a moment before nodding his head in admittance.

“Yeah, I went with my best friend, Jonghyun. He’s a huge dork and he watched this documentary about Shinjuku station and he wanted to experience it for himself…” It wasn’t all Jonghyun did, but he decided to leave out the part of Jonghyun running up debt in Tokyo.

“Is your friend single?” Soyou then asked. Arisa slapped her across the arm. “What? If I don’t ask I don’t know!”

“He’s…” He was single but Jonghyun was completely gay and head over heels for Jinki so would that technically make him not single? Kibum didn’t quite know. “He’s unavailable.”

“Oh, shoot,” Soyou cursed, stamping her foot. “Maybe Minho might help me out.”

The door swung open then, as if Minho had heard his calling, and he strolled in, talking to two new girls that Kibum hadn’t seen before.

“Hey!” One of them said, running over and hugging Soyou. “How was your holiday?”

“It was alright. My grandma made a big deal out of her angina again,” Soyoyu admitted. “I just can’t believe my mum fell for it.”

The girl who had hugged Soyou giggled and fell back against the sofa next to Soyou. Her eyes then latched on Kibum’s form across the room and she broke out into a big, puppy-like smile. “You must be Kibum then!”

“Hi, yes, that’s me,” Kibum said with a soft smile.

“I’m Sunyoung and this is Krystal,” Sunyoung gestured to herself and then to the other girl who was still talking to Minho. Krystal, upon hearing her name, bowed her head to Kibum wordlessly before turning back to Minho.

“Nice to meet you both,” Kibum said, uncertainly.

“So, you’re Minho,” Soyou said, pointing to him. Minho stopped, frozen, and looked at her with wide eyes. “Do you have a friend?”

“I have a few,” Minho said with a laugh. “Why?”

“Are any of them single?”

“Well…” Minho paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts. “One of them is but I doubt he’s your type.”

“No way, everyone’s my type,” Soyou said with a shake to her head.

“She’s not lying,” Sunyoung added.

“Well, the one who’s single is about seventeen and likes anime. A lot,” Minho said and it was like the wind had been knocked from Soyou’s lungs.

Kibum gave Minho a quick glance from the side. How strange that he mentioned Taemin being single but not Jinki… Unless the rumours were true and he and Jinki were in fact dating. Kibum frowned, poor Jonghyun, he was going to be heartbroken knowing that the rumours weren’t just rumours after all. Even if he was the type to play it safe regarding gossip, he was always the hopeful type for a hint of falsity to be hidden away in any kind of rumour.

When Minho put away his stuff, he stood off to the side, away from Kibum and the two shared a very cold glare which didn’t go unmissed by Sunyoung and Soyou who shared a glance of concern. However, there was no time to get involved as Jimin was calling to the staff room from downstairs demanding that people come down to listen to the team talk before the shop opened.

Everyone filtered out of the staffroom, Soyou carrying a bright pink water bottle with her. Minho and Kibum headed to the door at the same time, their hands almost touching if Kibum hadn’t recoiled dramatically. Minho sighed and swung one of the doors open and stormed out.

Jimin was a petite lady with long brown hair tied up into a bun on the top of her head. She was wearing a bright blue sailor dress and white pumps.

“You look nice today, unnie,” Soyou said as she walked out onto the shop floor.

“Ah, Soyou, I’ve missed you,” Jimin said with a smile. “How’s your grandmother doing?”

“She’s doing fine. It wasn’t serious.”

“She only lost her ID,” Arisa said and the room fell silent before Jimin and Soyou cracked up. Sunyoung began to giggle too, Krystal letting a small smile grace her face in amusement. “What?”

“She has angina, Arisa,” Soyou explained. “An-gi-na.”

“Ooooh,” Arisa said, clapping her hands to each of her cheeks in embarrassment. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay, you’re still learning,” Soyou said, throwing an arm around Arisa’s shoulder. Arisa rested her head on Soyou’s shoulder with a little whine in the back of her throat.

“Okay, with that out of the way,” Jimin said with a bright smile on her face. “We have two new faces. Kim Kibum and Choi Minho! Finally, some cute guys to work with. Hopefully, with you two on our team, our men’s wear will get a high footfall percentage. Let’s welcome them with our best impressions, okay?”

“Okay,” the girls chimed in cheerfully. It sounded like a chorus of choir girls in church.

“Today Minho and Kibum will be on menswear with Soyou, is that okay?”

“Yes, unnie,” Soyou said with a tense smile. Kibum and Minho gave each other a nasty glare before turning back to Jimin. She felt a shiver run down her back, having to spend her entire shift with two individuals who obviously loathed one another.

Jimin then ran through the rest of the talk, totalling the percentage of positive comments at a nice round 90% percent and then offered some titbits of advice on how to sell some products better.

“I know it’s still summer but winter will be here before we know it and we need to get the sale of these sweaters up before our pre-Christmas sale starts.” Jimin then asked for any questions before telling everyone their positions. Kibum, Minho, and Soyou headed upstairs whilst Jimin opened the front glass doors. Only a few people were stood outside waiting to be let in, mainly college girls on their phones.

“Is it common to sell winter stuff in the middle of summer?” Kibum asked Soyou when they reached the men’s department.

“Oh, yeah,” Soyou said. “We get all of our bikinis and skirts and stuff in January just after new year’s and our winter stuff comes in a week before all the schools break up. We start pricing stuff down after Chuseok.”

“Wow,” Kibum said with a whistle. Minho walked ahead of them, having been placed on the fitting room for the first two hours.

“Hey, listen, I don’t want to pry but is there something going on between you and Minho?” Soyou then asked.

“Nope,” Kibum said immediately. Soyou, who was currently tidying away as few polo shirts that been stuffed into the wall by hurried customers and had been missed by the closing staff, stopped and looked at Kibum with a face of disbelief. “No.”

“Then why… Listen, I don’t really… know why you two are cold with each other but you guys have to understand you’ll be working here for the next two months and getting along would be ideal for this environment.”

“Like you get along with everyone here,” Kibum said with a snort and Soyou smiled knowingly.

“You’re right, I don’t. Krystal and I don’t always see eye-to-eye but we’re polite and friendly to each other because that’s what it’s like working here.”

“I am polite,” Kibum said indignantly.

Soyou laughed. “No, you’re not, but whatever dude. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Kibum crossed his arms over his chest. He knew he wasn’t be entirely fair to Minho, especially since they were both forced into this situation but Minho should have known that he was going to end up working at a clothing store seeing as Kibum was always considered the best dressed student in the entire college.

He didn’t have to play nice to the guy who continued to show him up every day in class. For once, he had the upper hand, and he was going to use it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translation notes:  
> Angina – hyeobsimjeung  
> ID - sinbunjeung
> 
>  
> 
> hi hi!
> 
> So, just a little forewarning, I will be going to the originally planned schedule for this fic, so the next chapter will be out on the 16th of June. I know that's a while away but wednesdays and every other sunday are the only days i know i will get off from work ;;
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the chapter regardless. See you in two weeks (or on wednesday if you're reading after the autumn rain <3)


	4. Chapter 4

It was Sunday evening when Kibum saw Jonghyun again. He and Nicole were meeting up with him to stew conversation over a big pot of budae jiggae. Jonghyun had sworn he had found the most perfect restaurant outside Namdaemun market. Kibum, as always, was doubtful.

It was around ten past five when Nicole knocked on his door. She was wearing a leather jacket with a plaid shirt underneath and jeans that were ripped in the knees. “Ready to go?”

“Nearly,” Kibum replied, slicking his hair pack and plopping on a mustard beanie to compliment his new mustard boots. Nicole rolled her eyes.

“If I was meticulous as you, I’d never go out anywhere,” she said and Kibum shoved her playfully as he left the room.

“If you were meticulous as me, you’d have a girlfriend.”

“Cold! Ice cold, Bum!” Nicole cried out as Kibum moved to the front door, leaving it propped over for Nicole to follow after him. She pushed him over as she left and Kibum slipped across the floor, banging head first into the door of the opposite apartment. Nicole, hiding her laugher, helped Kibum up with giggled apologies and the two walked down the stairs, keeping their hands to themselves.

“So,” Nicole started as they left the apartment building. They were going to take the bus to Namdaemun market as it was only a few stops away from the college. They turned right towards the hub where all of the buses going into and out of the university stopped. Kibum looked at Nicole, anticipating the rest of sentence. “How’s working going?”

Kibum groaned.

“That bad, huh?” Nicole winced. “Sorry dude, retail is a bitch.”

“It’s not that,” Kibum said with a shake of his head. “You won’t guess who I’m working with.”

It took Nicole a few moments to try and piece together Kibum’s attitude and his displeasure of working, but she definitely got there in the end. “Oh, no, not _Choi Minho_.”

“You say that sarcastically like it’s not the end of the world.”

“Because it isn’t, Kibum,” Nicole said. She had dug her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket somewhere between the apartment and leaving the campus, and was now nudging him with her covered hands. “Who knows, maybe you two have a lot in common, you could become-“

“Don’t say it!”

“Friends,” Nicole finished with a saucy grin.

“What part of ‘don’t say it’ do you not understand,” Kibum whined, rubbing at his face. “It’ll be a cold day in hell before Choi Minho and I become friends.”

Nicole snorted. “I’ll keep watch on the temperature then,” she said. “Man, I feel sorry for Minho, having to put up with your whiny-bitch ass all the time.”

“I’ll have you know!” Kibum started. He was about to continue when the bus they needed pulled up to the station they had just arrived at. They both pulled out their student ID and flashed it before racing to the empty back seats where the two huddled in the corner. “I’ll have you know I’m a pleasure to work with,” Kibum finished, a little quieter this time.

“Oh, I don’t doubt that,” Nicole said in a voice that suggested she perhaps did doubt it a little. “But, I doubt Minho feels the same way. Have you spoken to him at all since you started on Friday?”

“Once or twice,” Kibum said.

“And what did you say?”

Kibum didn’t want to admit that he had been adamant that Minho knew how he felt about him. “I may have told him I hated him.”

“Oh, wow, smooth,” Nicole said sarcastically. “Don’t you think you’re being a little unfair to Minho?”

“Leave it alone, Nicole, you don’t understand my pain!”

“You’re right, I don’t,” Nicole muttered to herself. “And I’m glad I don’t.”

Kibum spent the rest of the bus journey glaring at his best friend.

* * *

Jonghyun was already in the restaurant waiting for them by the time they found the place. He had already ordered the shallow steel pan filled to the brim with meat, rice cakes, tofu, and two different types of ramen. He hadn’t turned the gas stove on yet and was sat drinking Tiger beer by the bottle full.

“Yo,” Nicole said as she took a seat next to Jonghyun. Kibum took his opposite the two of them. “Sorry we’re late, Kibum was deciding what outfit to wear.”

“Shut up,” Kibum hissed.

“And you ended up wearing that?” Jonghyun criticised. Kibum immediately looked down at his navy blue Ralph Lauren polo shirt and chinos.

“What’s wrong with how I look?”

“You look like you’re about to go to a golf course,” Jonghyun said and Nicole snorted on her water. Kibum upturned his own glass and poured out a small amount from the ice-cold jug at Nicole’s end of the table.

“Shut up, both of you. I’ve had a terrible week.”

“I’ve heard,” Jonghyun said. “Also, don’t think I haven’t forgotten about you calling my dog fat.”

Kibum waved Jonghyun’s accusations away with a slight hand before turning the stove on so that they could actually dig in. “I’m not sugar-coating the truth like you sugar-coat those peanut butterballs for Roo.”

Jonghyun slammed his hand down on the table playfully and gave Kibum a cold stare that lasted for only a minute. He then pushed his glasses back up and sipped on his beer a little more.

“So, go on,” Jonghyun then prompted, watching the broth bubble around the sides. He then looked up at Kibum who was staring at him expectantly. “Explain why this week has been terrible. I thought you couldn’t wait to work at Forever 21.”

“I couldn’t,” Kibum said before pressing a hand to his chest dramatically. “Until I realised I was working with Choi Minho.”

Jonghyun played along for a second, giving Kibum a scandalised gasp before letting his face return to normal and he sipped on his beer some more. “Give me a break, you’re telling me you’re moping just because you have to see Minho’s face. I can’t imagine how drama class is going for you.”

Nicole, grabbing her chop sticks, began to dig around in the stew, letting the salty and spicy soup base mix into the broth. She then picked out a piece of shiitake mushroom and blew on it for a second before popping it into her mouth. She chewed.

“Drama class is different. I’m with other people who hate him just as much as me,” Kibum stated. He reached into the pot with his chop sticks and grabbed some spam, it fell apart between his chopsticks and he stabbed into the piece of meat and ate it from the end.

He grabbed his bowl of rice and the ladle sitting in the broth and began to spoon in some of the stew, and noodles, into his empty bowl. He then filled up some of the broth with hot water from another bowl sitting to the left of him before placing the ladle back. Nicole and Jonghyun followed his movements.

“Name one person who hates Minho as much as you,” Jonghyun dared. He had red stew stains on his chin already. Mess.

Kibum opened his mouth. He could name one person surely. Jino… He could count, probably.

“Don’t say Jino,” Nicole then butted in, as if reading Kibum’s mind. She slurped on some noodles, letting the stew splatter everywhere. “Jino just hates what you hate because he fancies you.”

“He does not,” Kibum said indignantly. “He’s my friend.”

“He wants to suck your dick,” Jonghyun confirmed. “I heard it from a friend of a friend who was at Jino’s actual house party a few weeks ago.”

“You two are idiots. He’s not even gay.”

“He’s not straight either, genius,” Nicole said. “He wants to go Madonna on your dick and sing _Like a Prayer_ in your ear.”

“Can you two shut up,” Kibum demanded. His ears were so hot he could feel steam rising from them.

Jonghyun and Nicole snickered to themselves.

“… Since when did Jino have a house party and not invite me?” Kibum then asked. Jonghyun immediately stuffed his face with white rice whilst Nicole chewed on a rice cake with a gummy smile. “Assholes.”

“Anyway,” Jonghyun said through pouched cheeks of rice. “Guess who’s working at the bubble tea place in Hongdae.”

“Who?” Nicole asked.

“Lee Jinki.”

“Oh, my God. Nicole what would you rather listen to: me whine about Minho or Jonghyun’s constantly pathetic love life?” Kibum asked and Jonghyun scowled at him.

Nicole pretended to put some thought into the question before turning to Jonghyun and indulging him. Kibum pouted. He really hated his friends sometimes. “So, Jinki’s working at _Mee-Cha_. Have you been in and seen him?”

“Of course I did,” Jonghyun said. “I got a stain on my _Commes des Garcons’_ jacket.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Kibum said, halting the conversation. “Not the cream limited edition bomber jacket I got you for your birthday last year?”

Jonghyun hadn’t realised the jacket was limited edition, now he wished he had taken more advantage of Jinki’s sorry state. “Sorry man, I didn’t realise he was so clumsy.”

“Oh, my God,” Kibum groaned. He rubbed at his forehead.

“Anyway, we have something in common. Neither of us like sweet stuff.”

“Jonghyun, you love sweet stuff,” Kibum stated. “You ate an entire box of candied walnuts the other day.”

“Well, I don’t like ice cream that much then,” Jonghyun said with a reproachful look. “Anyway, I’m thinking of maybe going there once in a while and try and woo him with my charm and good looks.”

He hadn’t meant for it to come across so harsh but in hindsight, Jonghyun with those stupid thick frames on talking about charm was the funniest thing he had ever heard of. Kibum began to cackle to himself whilst Nicole patted Jonghyun’s slumped shoulder.

“You can do it,” Nicole said encouragingly.

As Kibum laughed to himself over the image of Jonghyun in those oversized frames trying to woo Jinki the clumsy music geek, he suddenly remembered the thing he had in fact learnt from Minho earlier in the week.

“Ah, you… probably should just give up, Jonghyun,” Kibum said softly. Jonghyun was almost ready to retort but recoiled when he noticed Kibum’s serious and sorrowful expression. “Soyou, one of the girls I work with, was asking about any of Minho’s friends being single and Minho said that Taemin was the only one in his group that was.”

“So… Jinki…” Jonghyun said slowly.

“And Minho, likely,” Kibum confirmed with a nod.

“Damn, the rumours are true then,” Nicole said. “Sucks for you too, Kibum.”

“Why me?” Kibum asked with narrow eyes.

“Because it looks like your chances with Minho are out the window too.”

“Oh, you shut the hell up!” Kibum snapped. “Jjong, are you gonna be okay?”

Jonghyun looked hollow for a minute, the way his eyes became unfocused as he looked out onto the evening sky. For a second, he looked serene and at peace. And then he was looking back at Kibum with a cheeky grin on his face and was as if Kibum had never broken the bad news.

“How much do you wanna bet that by the end of the summer, Kibum and Minho will be all over each other?” Jonghyun asked Nicole, who was grinning wolfishly.

“I hate you both. With a passion,” Kibum seethed. He dug around in his stew with his chopsticks until he hit the pork belly and pierced it with the end of one of the sticks and stuck it into his mouth, chewing with purpose.

* * *

“I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think it is,” Jinki said softly as he placed down two handmade English rose milk teas with floating black boba on the coffee table. He and Minho had walked all the way from another bubble tea place in Itaewon whilst book shopping. Unfortunately, the bubble tea was the only thing they managed to get home with. As soon as they had reached the apartment, Jinki immediately took a seat on the sofa beside Minho who was pulling at the roots of his hair, a habit he had picked up since a kid. “Yes, working with Kibum might not be ideal right now but you have always said you wanted to get to know him more.”

“That was before I realised how much of an asshole he was,” Minho deflected. He reached across and grabbed one of the drinks and then curved his lips around the giant straw and sucked. “Like, who just outright hates someone for no reason?”

“Maybe he does have a reason,” Jinki suggested, taking and sipping on his own drink. He chewed a little on the boba as he thought about the many and copious reasons as to why Kibum despised his best friend and the ground he walked on. “Did you offend one of his outfits once?”

“No,” Minho said with a shake of his head. “I actually quite like the clothes he wears. On anyone else it would look terrible but he pulls it off somehow.”

“Aha,” Jinki hummed. He then took another sip, and chewed some more. “Did you insult his dogs? I hear he’s quite protective of them.”

“I didn’t even know he had dogs,” Minho replied with wide eyes.

“Then that’s not the case. Did you say something mean about his friends?” Jinki then squinted his eyes a little. “You didn’t say anything mean about Jonghyun, did you?”

“No,” Minho said. “And do you honestly think I’d insult your soulmate?”

“H-he’s not my soulmate!” Jinki stuttered with warm cheeks. He sucked around his straw to keep silent.

“Sure,” Minho said with a snort. “I honestly don’t know what I did to him.”

“Well, you’re in the same class right? Maybe he just hates you because you’re competition?”

Minho stared at Jinki for a while. It wasn’t that he didn’t think it was plausible, for someone to be so petty over a college drama class, but it was entirely feasible and that’s what he hated. To think that someone hated him just because he was doing well in a class he enjoyed. Well, frankly, it hurt.

“The look on your face tells me I might possibly be right,” Jinki said with a knowing tone. Minho nodded his head slowly. The two turned to their drinks, letting the slurping sounds of their straws against the bottom of the plastic cup echo around them monotonously.

“So, how is it going with Jonghyun?”

“Oh, Minho, it’s a disaster,” Jinki admitted. He then collapsed, letting his head hit the back of the sofa and began to sob. “I spilled raspberry sorbet on his Commes des Garcons jacket!”

“I heard,” Minho said. “Taemin told me. We did some research too and that jacket was limited edition. From last year.”

“Why do you enjoy making me feel worse than I already do?” Jinki demanded, lifting his head up slightly to glare at his close friend. Minho leant across and stroked Jinki’s cheeks lovingly. Jinki yanked his face away from Minho’s touch with a grimace.

“I don’t enjoy it but this gives you leverage,” Minho started to explain. “By ruining a priceless item you can apologise to him by taking him on a date and then maybe giving him one of those blowjobs you’ve been dreaming about since you walked into him during your first day in music class.”

Jinki’s cheeks grew hot and red and he fanned his hands, hoping to cool himself down. “You can’t just say something like that without warning!”

Minho simply rolled his eyes and toyed with the straw. “What’s the deal, there’s no one around to hear, hyung.”

“Still!”

“Listen to me,” Minho said. “You can do this, you’ve been waiting since day one for this and don’t let it go now.”

“But what if… what if he turns me down?” Jinki asked with a little pout. He ripped through the plastic film of the cup with his straw and then tore the whole thing off before downing the rest of the ice-cold tea. He swallowed the boba whole.

“He won’t because you’re Lee Jinki, but even if he does, you at least tried and if you don’t try you never know,” Minho insisted.

Jinki almost let Minho’s pep talk get to him. He felt a resurgence of newly brought-on confidence. He sat up with a broad grin. And then, within a second it all deflated when he remembered those horrible rumours bouncing around the school. “It’s no use,” he lamented. “Jonghyun’s dating Kibum.”

“And you know this how?” Minho asked with a raise brow.

“Don’t tell me you haven’t heard the rumours? A friend of my friend Changsun’s cousin said he saw the two of them making out at one of Jino’s parties last year.”

“So?” Minho said, his brow only raising higher. It nearly reached his hairline. “That means jack.”

“It means they’re attracted to each other,” Jinki insisted.

“It means they were drunk,” Minho corrected. “I wouldn’t think too much about what Changsun’s cousin is saying…”

“A friend of Changsun’s cousin.”

“A friend of Changsun’s cousin,” Minho corrected himself with an eye roll. “It’s all feeble gossip, it means nothing. Just ask him out, you might actually be surprised by what happens.”

“First,” Jinki then said as Minho stood up and grabbed the two empty bubble tea cups to bin them. “I’ll ask about the jacket and then maybe if the response is in my favour, I’ll ask him out.”

“Yeah,” Minho said with an enthusiastic nod. “That won’t hurt. Just, don’t let your nerves get the better of you. You’ve been dying to kiss that boy for over a year.” He walked back over to Jinki and squeezed his shoulder comfortingly. “Now, what do I do about the Kibum situation?”

“You could always just approach his fire with ice,” Taemin suggested just as he walked out of his bedroom. He managed to catch the conversation at the right time. “Kind of like Bakugou and Todoroki in _My Hero Academia_ – you need to watch that with me, hyung.”

“I know,” both Jinki and Minho replied with resigned sighs. They both then glanced at each other in complete surprise.

“But how does an anime about superheroes help me?” Minho then asked with a shake of his head as Taemin perched himself at the island counter in the kitchen. He then pulled out a green tea ice cream bar and began to suck on it, ignoring the perturbed looks he received from his brother and friend.

“Where did you get that from?” Jinki asked, squinting at the ice cream.

“Mini fridge,” Taemin simply said before then turning to Minho to answer his previous question. “Because, the cooler you act towards him, the cooler he’ll become. He’ll realise his retorts and insults aren’t working and will end up just giving up and maybe he might actually be nice to you.”

“You know,” Jinki said with wonderment. “I think Taemin might be onto something. You should try it at least. It’ll never hurt.”

“Fine,” Minho said, looking over at Taemin. “I’ll do it and when it doesn’t work you need to watch one friendly with me.”

Taemin stopped sucking on his ice cream. “But I hate football!”

“Tough. Your anime nonsense is making this happen, the least you can do is watch one match with me,” Minho said. Taemin sighed and Minho held his hand out for the boy to take. Taemin took it and shook it before biting into the ice cream without flinching.

“Now,” Jinki started. “Who’s going with me to get some food for dinner?”

“I’m busy,” Taemin said immediately. Jinki looked at him carefully and Taemin avoided his eyes, nibbling on his ice cream bar. He then slouched off the counter and retreated to his bedroom, closing the door after him.

A second later, Minho walked into the bedroom to look for his wallet.

“You know,” Taemin suddenly said in between bites of his ice cream, turning from his desk. “Getting Kibum on your side wouldn’t hurt because then maybe you two could team up and get hyung and Jonghyun-hyung together.”

Minho didn’t quite like the way that Taemin was full of wisdom on days like this, but he had to hand it to the little nerd, he was definitely a lot smarter than his obsession made him look.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little jongkeycole and ontaeho to sorta bring some comic relief as well as some plot substance.
> 
> So, now that After the Autumn Rain is completed, this fic shall get updated every wednesday and every other sunday but if you're worried about missing update you can subscribe and be alerted when I update, or follow me on twitter: @jjong_bluemoon 
> 
> Thanks for reading <3


	5. Chapter 5

“Wow,” Nicole said as she thumped through Kibum’s script for _Much Ado About Nothing_. “This play is… something. Do you understand this?”

Kibum, ruffling his hair dry with a towel as he sat at his desk in a tank top and shorts, gave a short shrug. “I don’t _not_ understand it.”

Nicole let out an indignant snort and then continued to read through. “So, who are you going to audition for? Claudio?”

“No way,” Kibum scoffed. He threw his towel across the room, watching as it handed in his wash basket almost too perfectly. He raised his hands up in the air in silent celebration, swivelling around to face Nicole to check that she had been watching.

Nicole rolled her eyes in response. “So if you’re not reading for Claudio, who are you going to read for?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Kibum asked with a raised brow. When Nicole didn’t answer, he replied: “Benedick.”

“Benedick?” Nicole questioned, she traced back to a previous scene. “Then is Courtesy a turncoat; but it is certain I am loved of all ladies, only you excepted; and I would I could find in my heart that I had not a hard heart, for truly I love none.” She paused and then glanced at Kibum with considerable suspicion. “ _You_ are going for _Benedick_.”

“And why shouldn’t I?” Kibum asked. “Don’t you think I could play the part well? He’s arrogant, you say I’m arrogant, he’s handsome, I’m obviously good looking, he’s a ladies man and I am a man’s man. There is no difference, we are the same.”

Nicole stared at Kibum for a long moment before let out a loud burst of laughter that sounded almost like she was choking. “Okay, you got me. You got me. No, really, you’re going for Claudio, right?”

Kibum reached behind him to grab something heavy and dangerous. His hands cupped over his favourite snow globe, the glass cold against his skin and his hand retreated. It grandmother’s last gift to him was not worth using to shut Nicole up. He needed to buy a paper weight if it was going to work – something he’d be happy to lose.

“No, I’m serious, I’m going for Benedick. Listen.” Kibum stood up and cleared his throat. “You read the next line of Beatrice’s.”

Nicole gave Kibum a look that suggested this wouldn’t end well in Kibum’s favour but played along regardless. “A dear happiness to women – they would else have been troubled with a pernicious suitor. I thank God and my cold blood, I am of your humour for that; I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me.”

Like lightening, Kibum was on the defence with the wit that he imagined Shakespeare would recoil at in surprise. “God keep your ladyship still in that mind, so some gentleman or other shall scape a predestinate _scratched face_.”

“Scratching could not make it worse, and ‘twere such a face as yours were.”

“Well, you are a rare parrot-teacher!”

Nicole threw the script down. “Okay, okay, you’ve convinced me.”

“I’ll sound better playing off someone who actually wants to be Beatrice,” Kibum then threw back and Nicole stuck her tongue out at him.

“I just assumed you’d want the more dramatic role. Isn’t Claudio the one who pretty much ruins his own wedding day with Hero?”

Kibum sat back down at his desk and waved his hand in the air in dismissal. “Claudio is nothing but a sap. He’s boring and naïve and no one wants that role, I can guarantee it.”

“Wouldn’t it be hilarious if Minho wanted that role?” Nicole then hypothesised. “Wouldn’t it be even more hilarious if you two ended up playing off each other as Claudio and Benedick? Isn’t there a scene where Benedick threatens Claudio.”

Kibum’s eyes trailed off as he imagined himself, in the uniform the costume department would design – deep blue coat with double tails and well-fitting white pants – as he loudly and obnoxiously declared Minho to be the villain he had always seen him as. Even if he were playing a role.

“You _are_ a villain. I jest _not_ ,” Kibum said with a smile that gave Nicole a shiver.

“Okay, that’s it, you’re too into your character. I have to get up early tomorrow. I start my new shift at Bolbeuldog tomorrow morning,” Nicole announced as she stretched.

“Sleep well, my dear lady!” Kibum called out as Nicole vacated the room. He turned to look out the window on the stifling summer’s eve, as the sun had begun to set completely behind the cityscape. He then closed the curtains on the evening sky.

* * *

“How was your day off?” Seulgi asked the Monday morning as Kibum entered the staff room with sleep still in his eyes and a yawn tampering with his straight face. He rubbed at his eyes as he put away his mini backpack. He tugged up the lapels of his brand new dark wash denim jacket and cuffed the sleeves.

“I met up with my friends,” Kibum said, slumping onto the sofa. He kicked his left leg over his right and noticed immediately that the laces of his doc martens had come loose. He untied them and retied them again. “You?”

“Work,” Seulgi said with a shrug. “I’m training to be a nurse,” she clarified when Kibum gave her a strange look.

“Oh, that’s so cool,” Kibum said with awe. Seulgi grinned so brightly her eyes almost disappeared.

Wendy walked through the door a moment later, hair a mess and her clothes mismatched. Kibum’s eyes zeroed in on a kimchi stain on a striped navy-and-white boat-necked top. “I know, I look a mess. Thankfully Joohyun-unnie has told me I’m on delivery all day.”

“Oh that’s good, you like being on delivery,” Seulgi said. Wendy dumped her canvas bag onto the floor and began to comb through her hair with her fingers. “Want a hair brush?”

Wendy turned to face her with a pout. “Yes please.”

“Who’s Joohyun?” Kibum then asked with a frown.

“Oh, she’s the other manager, but she only comes in twice a week when Jimin-unnie and Boah-unnie can’t,” Wendy explained, taking the pink handled hair brush from Seulgi. Seulgi then took her seat back.

“She’s like a supply teacher but for managers,” Seulgi added.

“She’s also really scary so watch out,” Wendy continued with a big smile. Kibum rolled his eyes. “You’re not convinced. You’re a fool. He’s a fool, right, Seulgi?”

“A fool indeed,” Seulgi nodded wisely and Kibum laughed through his nose. Outrageous.

The door swung open again and Minho walked in, also wearing a dark wash denim jacket. Unlike Kibum who had paired his with a light-fabric charcoal grey sweater and black ripped jeans, Minho had styled his with a powder blue shirt and black chinos that were rolled up to his ankle. He wore dark wash converse to match.

Kibum raised a brow. Impressive.

“You look nice,” Wendy said with a suggestive lilt. “If I wasn’t dating Eunwoo I’d totally ask you out.”

Minho smiled at Wendy with the good intentions of a shy boy being hit on for the first time. Kibum let out a hiss of disgust. Minho didn’t even give him a single look in his direction and immediately Kibum felt like he was on fire. How dare Minho ignore him like that? Who the hell did he think he was?

“Thanks,” Minho then said to Wendy. “I’m not really one for denim jackets but I saw this on the model the other day and I really liked the fit of it.”

“Yeah, it suits you,” Seulgi said. She then glanced over at Kibum who was seething in pure rage. “Kibum wears it well too. Stand up, Kibum.”

Kibum did as he was told, not because Seulgi was his elder and deserved the respect of someone like Jonghyun (not that he gave Jonghyun the respect he deserved either but whatever) but because she was his superior in the shop. Minho quickly glanced over Kibum with disinterested eyes and he felt his blood boil to the point of steam exuding from his ears.

“Oh, I like that,” Wendy said. “Maybe you should give my boyfriend fashion advice,” she then suggested and Kibum grinned. A few seconds later, a soft, melodic voice was calling through the speakers alerting for everyone to come downstairs and start the early morning team talk.

The pack of four moved like slugs to the shop floor, the Monday feeling emanating from them like a bad odour. Today would be a bad day, it was a sense all of them held.

Joohyun turned out to be a very pretty petite lady with a nice smile and friendly features. When Kibum and Minho stood at the till counters, waiting to be told to go to the menswear department, she immediately greeted them with a sunny smile.

“Hello, I’m Bae Joohyun, one of the managers here. You must be Kibum and Minho. It’s really nice to have some guys working here for a change.” She then cleared her throat and whizzed through the jobs of the day. Once again, Minho and Kibum were on men’s without any supervision this time as Seulgi and Wendy were needed downstairs on the woman’s department with Joohyun.

“Any problems, just ring the bell,” Joohyun advised before swiftly moving from behind the counter to unlock the front doors. Minho and Kibum made their way up the glass staircase to the upper floor.

“So… Did you intentionally wear the same jacket as me to piss me off?” Kibum asked as he reached the till. Minho began to tidy around, making sure the polo shirts had been folded correctly.

He didn’t give Kibum an answer.

“Are you just ignoring me now?”

“What’s the problem? I thought you hated me?” Minho then asked. There was no hint of encouragement in his voice and Kibum felt himself deflate a little.

“I do hate you,” Kibum said, but this time the acidic tone that phrase had once held was suddenly lost.

Minho smiled to himself.

“If it helps, I think you look better than me in the jacket anyway,” Minho said and Kibum’s jaw immediately dropped. He had not been expecting that. Minho smirked to himself again.

“Um… thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Minho said with a joyful smile before he skipped into the fitting room. Kibum watched after him, completely taken by surprise. What in the world had just happened and was it opposite day because for some reason, Minho was being oddly nice to him.

Maybe today was April 1st and this was an elaborate prank. No, Kibum checked the till register – it definitely said July.

Maybe Kibum was dreaming, then. He pinched himself. Hard. Nope, he was definitely awake and was now on his way to have a lovely little bruise blooming on his upper arm.

He could understand it, running his hands through his hair in frustration. Amidst his mental shutdown, he didn’t notice Minho watching him with a bright smile, feeling quite proud of himself.

* * *

Towards the end of Kibum’s shift and the lunch break of Minho’s, they had somehow started talking. The upper floor was still completely quiet and tidy from the morning.

“So, are you enjoying _Much Ado About Nothing_?” Minho asked, leaning up against the till. He and Kibum had switched tasks throughout the day and now Kibum was in the fitting room, but with no customers, there was nothing to do, and neither of them could leave the department alone. Theft was only preventable with eagle eyes.

“It’s alright, I guess,” Kibum answered without thinking. He nearly caught himself by the end of the sentence but decided to let it go. Just this once. “What about you?”

“I think I prefer Beatrice and Benedick’s story to Hero and Claudio’s.”

“Definitely,” Kibum agreed with a genuine, toothy smile. “Claudio is…”

“Claudio is a wet blanket. Benedick is wittier and funnier and has the better romantic subplot. Like, what is up with the non-wedding and then the fake wedding and the real wedding?”

It surprised the both of them, the way Kibum actually laughed at something Minho said and not let it be in a malicious or threatening way. A fleeting smile, a genuine one, tugged at Minho’s lips.

“It is strange, yeah,” Kibum agreed through his laughter.

Minho hadn’t expected Kibum to laugh like that. It sounded almost forced and fake, but the way Kibum’s head had tilted back told Minho that was just how he sounded like when he actually laughed at something he found funny.

“So, who are you auditioning for then?” Minho then asked, crossing his arms. With the way Kibum had been acting, he hadn’t anticipated such a sudden moon whiplash.

It was like a rubber band had snapped that was how rapidly Kibum was back to his cold self and it felt like Minho had barely made a dent in bringing his gigantic ice wall down.

“Like I’d tell you,” he said with a sneer before hopping back into the fitting room. A few seconds later, Minho heard the sounds of a sweeper brush sliding against the tiled floors and he pinched at his nose bridge. It had been going so well, what exactly had happened in Kibum’s mind to make him shift from a person Minho could actually see himself being friends with to the ice witch straight out of a C.S. Lewis book.

As soon as the hour was up, Seulgi was running up the stairs to dismiss Minho for his lunch. She bid farewell to Kibum as he left too, leaving the whole floor to her for the hour until Minho came back. Kibum didn’t bother to hold the door to the back open for Minho, nor did he even attempt to hold the staff room door open for him.

Kibum grabbed his backpack and immediately headed for the door again to leave but Minho pulled him back with a tight and forceful grip on his wrist. Kibum immediately gave him a horrified glare, nostrils flared in fury.

“What the hell-“

“Why don’t you like me?” Minho asked straight out. “What have I done to you?”

Kibum stared at Minho for a long second before yanking his wrist free, and caressing it with his other hand. He seemed conflicted with telling Minho the truth and just running. And in the end, he ran. Minho stared after him in disbelief as shiny black doc martens scurried around the corner, his bleached hair no longer glowing under the industrial yellow lighting of the hallway.

Minho huffed out some air, letting it blow through his fringe, hands on his hips. He didn’t know if he should laugh in bemusement or scream in frustration.

“Mark my words, Kim Kibum, I’ll get you even if it takes me the whole of these two months,” he said to himself before grabbing his wallet. He decided he’ll have hotteok today.

* * *

Jinki was washing the plastic cup that was used to mix the bubble teas when the door opened. He briefly turned to greet the customer and the plastic cup slipped from his soapy hands the moment he saw Jonghyun standing at the counter, wearing a black, sleek fitting polka dot blazer, black slim fit jeans and monotone loafers. He had gigantic jet black shades covering his eyes but his lips were turned upwards into a devilish grin.

Jinki took a deep breath.

“Hi there,” he said, priding himself in not stuttering like he had before. “What can I get you today?”

Jonghyun’s eyes were completely hidden from Jinki so he couldn’t tell if Jonghyun was staring intensely at him or the menu as his square teeth came out to chew on his lower lip. He had a little freckle at the corner of his mouth that Jinki had never seen before.

“How about… A jasmine bubble tea with pudding topping instead of those nasty boba pearls,” Jonghyun said. He then lowered his sunglasses further down his nose bridge and Jinki could finally see his eyes. Jonghyun winked at him and Jinki swore he would pass out from holding his breath in shock.

Jinki punched in the order and took Jonghyun’s money. He double counted and realised that Jonghyun had given him too many notes. However, when he tried to hand them back, Jonghyun immediately declined the return.

“I didn’t pay for the first raspberry sorbet the other day.”

Jinki immediately felt his ears grow warm. “I’m so sorry about your jacket!”

“Don’t be, it’s fine. Kibum’s a bit pissed but he’ll get over it when I buy him a new jumper from _Vetement_ ’s autumn collection.”

Jinki deflated a little, realising he had just missed his chance on asking Jonghyun on a date in return for his jacket, but it didn’t matter in hindsight as Jonghyun had pretty much just confirmed the nature of Kibum and Jonghyun’s relationship. Best friends don’t buy each other luxury brand items. It’s not like that.

Jinki took the extra money, making a mental note to explain the reason for it at Yoojin when she returned from her lunch break. He quickly tore off the order receipt and went to work making Jonghyun’s drink.

“Hey, I just noticed, we match!” Jonghyun then said from behind Jinki. Jinki spilled the jasmine tea everywhere, only getting a third of it into the mixing cup. He cursed and then looked over his shoulder to see what Jonghyun was talking about.

He hadn’t realised just how similar his polka dot shirt was to Jonghyun’s blazer, though he was sure Jonghyun’s blazer came imported from Milan or somewhere whereas Jinki’s shirt was just standard uniform for the cafe.

“Oh, yeah,” Jinki said, his voice cracking a little. Jonghyun grinned.

“Like couples clothing.”

Jinki immediately dropped everything onto the floor and had to start again from scratch. As Jinki began to brew the cold jasmine tea again, the door swung open and five girls walked in all at once. Jinki immediately felt the pressure.

“I’ll be right with you,” Jinki shouted to the girls over his shoulder. He squeezed his eyes shut and willed himself to concentrate because if he dropped this one, he could lose those potential customers. Thankfully, luck was on his side this time and he managed to get the plastic cup into the two arms of the mixer machine and it began to rattle, shaking the plastic cup back and forth to mix the tea, ice, and syrup together.

When Jinki turned to take the girls’ orders, he noticed that they were smiling and fluttering their eyes at Jonghyun, who was leaning against the glass casing for the ice cream. He gave them a jaunty little two fingered salute and the girls began to giggle to themselves.

“I’m texting Jeongyeon to let know what she’s missing,” one of them said, grabbing their phones immediately.

“It sucks that she had to stay in the library and study some more,” another one said. The girls all hummed in chorus of agreement and Jinki was slightly freaked out by how similar the girls sounded at that moment.

Jonghyun seemed disturbed as well by the way his eyes widened and his brows rose to his hairline.

The girls then read out their orders, thankfully only wanting two matcha ice cream in chocolate dipped waffle cones. Jinki immediately punched the order in with ease and then began to make them up.

“Sorry,” he said to Jonghyun. “I’ll get your tea in a second.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Jonghyun said with a lazy smile that made Jinki’s heart skip a beat or two in sequence.

Jinki willed himself not to drop the ice cream scoop, knowing how close Jonghyun was to him at the current moment, he could feel Jonghyun’s eyes stare into him, watching him intensely. It sent a tingle down his spine and suppressed the urge to shiver.

He made up the two cones quickly and the girls walked towards one of the high tables where they jumped up onto the stools and began to dig into the two cones between the five of them.

Jinki grabbed Jonghyun’s tea and poured it into the plastic, disposable cup and walked over to the topping station where he looked around for the netted ladle to scoop up some the cold egg pudding. He scooped up a large, overly-moderate spoonful into the cup and then set it into the machine to slap an air tight seal onto the top. At that exact moment, Yoojin walked through the door. Behind her was a trail of about six more students, all hovering around to get a look into the shop. When their eyes landed on Jonghyun and Jinki they all tittered excitedly.

Yoojin stared, quizzically, as the girls ventured inside, giggling to themselves. She ducked into the back and returned a second later as Jinki was rushed off his feet taking orders for all of the new customers.

“Where have they come from?” Yoojin asked under her breath. Jinki nodded towards Jonghyun laying against the ice cream case. “You?”

“Me what?” Jonghyun asked. “I came here for my bubble tea.”

“Oh!” Jinki said, turning back to grab the cup, now labelled up and ready and handed it over with a big straw. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“It’s okay,” Jonghyun said with an easy smile. He paused, staring down at his tea and then looking up at Jinki. He looked as if he had something else to say but decided against it.

Another group of students walked in, glancing over at Jonghyun and then pointing at their phones.

“You,” Yoojin said again, grabbing Jonghyun’s attention. “How would you like a job here?”

“Me?” Jonghyun asked, pointing to himself. He had managed to escape out of the mandatory work experience that everyone else was doing because his father made a hefty donation to the music department at his university. Kibum, whose father made a little less than his, hadn’t been so lucky, but even if he had he was sure Kibum would have decided to work anyway because he was just that kind of person.

“Yes, you. You attract customers with your pretty face and if you and Jinki here work together, I think it would make a big difference to the amount of customers we get.”

Jonghyun decided to mull it over. Working with Jinki sounded very exciting and gave him an excuse to talk to him more often and maybe it would be better on his waist line than coming in every other day for bubble tea or ice cream. He didn’t see a downside to it other than the fact he would be putting in hours of labour and that… didn’t really… sit well with him. But then again, he would be working _with Jinki_.

“Sure,” Jonghyun said with a shrug. “I’d love to work here.”

“Yes!” Yoojin threw her arms in the air. “You’re now officially the face of this café so always be smiling!”

Jonghyun grinned and Yoojin clapped her hands together.

“Yes, just like that.”

She then disappeared into the back room and Jinki was staring at him with a bewildered expression. Or, at least it might have been bewildered, Jonghyun had forgotten to put contacts in before putting his sunglasses on. He had been so hell bent on looking good that the aspect of _actually being_ _able to see_ had skipped his mind.

“I guess we’re partners now,” Jonghyun said with a lilted smile.

Jinki’s face turned a vibrant shade of red, even Jonghyun could see that. “Yes,” he said with a shaky voice. “I suppose we are.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> man i am so tired i almost forgot to update lmfao >.<
> 
> That be working adult life for you i guess
> 
> i'm glad to read that you're enjoying the story as it goes. i know it's a very slow slow-burn but i promise when it gets good, it gets GOOD.
> 
> the next update will be next wednesday the 26th and if you don't want to miss it, you can subscribe at the top or follow me on twitter for update information: @jjong_bluemoon
> 
> see you all next week <333


	6. Chapter 6

It was 7am on a Tuesday morning and Minho had woken up to blaring sunlight and Taemin watching the newest episode of One Piece nosily. He turned over in his bed, pulling the sheets over his head and groaned. He had to be at work in three hours.

All he could think about was the way Kibum had scampered away the moment Minho had confronted him. The look on his face, the way his features were frozen in complete fear like a deer in headlights. All he had wanted was to be friends with Kibum, but now it was starting to look like such an idea was never going to come to fruition.

Perhaps it would be better for the both of them, so why did Minho feel so empty inside? At first it was amusing, listening to the gossip that Kibum had labelled as his mortal enemy for taking a single role in high school, a role he had only auditioned for because Jinki convinced him to. If he knew how much Kibum really wanted it, he would have given it to him, honestly.

To be hated over something so trivial opened up a lot of doors for teasing and jokes. Kibum didn’t seem like the kind of guy who would let Minho tease him over their supposed rivalry but his reactions would warrant a reward for any attempt.

And then when they actually began to get along for a short while, it felt different. Minho actually thought for a moment they could be friends. Great friends. Best friends, possibly. They both enjoyed drama and their rivalry would push each other to do their absolute best. But Kibum had changed like the flip of a coin and Minho’s consideration of being Kibum’s friend was pretty much dashed.

“Are you going to wake up anytime soon?” Taemin asked, pausing his video. “You keep groaning.”

Minho pushed back the covers and glared at his roommate. “Listen, I’ve only had a few hours sleep.”

“Yeah and who’s fault is that? No one told you to stay up until late with Jinki-hyung drinking,” Taemin snorted.

The door to the room opened and Jinki walked in with a big glass of orange juice. He handed it over to Minho, who took it with both hands and gulped it down like he’d been thirsting for days.

“Hangover?” Jinki asked, sitting on Minho’s bed. Taemin spun around in his swivel chair, kicking his feet up to sit cross-legged.

“Actually no,” Minho said, finishing the last of the juice off before putting the glass aside.

“Then why do you keep groaning?” Taemin asked with a frown.

Minho looked at Taemin, then at Jinki, and then looked down at his navy blue covers. He bunched it up in his left fist. “Other reasons.”

Jinki patted his leg, tenderly, and then stood up. “I need to get ready for work. Taemin, what are you doing today?”

“Gaming,” Taemin replied, spinning back to his laptop. He then pulled out his PS4 controller from under a stack of papers and waved it in the air.

“Maybe take a walk?” Jinki suggested, leaning against the door.

“Maybe I’ll take a walk to come to your café for more ice-cream,” Taemin shot back. Minho shook his head, how that kid could stay stick thin when all he did was game, watch anime, and eat sweet things and ramen, was beyond him.

“Why don’t we go to the gym tomorrow?” Minho suggested, getting out of bed and stretching.

“Oh that sounds like fun,” Jinki said.

“No,” Taemin replied. His fingers hovered over the space-bar. It was a definitive kind of decline, the kind that told Minho and Jinki to drop the suggestion before it was too late. Minho gave up and grabbed his towel and a fresh pair of boxers, announcing he was taking a shower.

The moment the door closed behind Minho, Taemin was hitting the space-bar and enjoying his anime once more.

* * *

Kibum wasn’t there when Minho turned up for his 10am shift. Seulgi and Krystal were talking at the till about a shop fixture that needed moving when Victoria returned from her holiday.

“Hey,” Minho said, greeting the two girls with a bright smile.

“Oh, Minho, am I glad to see you,” Seulgi said with an equally bright smile. She looked rushed off her feet, hair unkempt, face unmade. She looked like she had just rolled out of bed. “Kibum called in sick this morning and I had to get called in last minute.”

“He called in sick?” Minho asked with a surprised look. “What did he say he had?”

“He said he had a migraine,” Krystal said. “I don’t believe it for a second but whatever.”

Minho didn’t believe it either. There was something uncomfortable sitting in the pit of his stomach that suggested that Kibum had called in sick to avoid him. It wouldn’t be that much of a stretch to believe it to be the truth. Kibum didn’t seem to be one for confrontation, considering how yesterday had gone. He was sarcastic and snarky, but when confrontation came, he was meek and quiet and let it happen.

There was an odd rolling sensation in the pit of his stomach that sensed that maybe he shouldn’t have faced the problem as head on as he had. It hadn’t been intentional but the idea that Kibum hated his guts with raw force anger had made him feel sicker than any amount of alcohol could. He just wanted to know why Kibum hated him, and just how he could fix it.

But, regardless of how Minho felt about the situation, the show had to go on and Minho had to put the act of helpful sales assistant on. When he saw Kibum next, he’d make it a point to let things go back to the way it was, no matter how much it hurt.

It was weird how lonely a shift could be when you suddenly missed some familiarity. Even though he and Kibum never really saw eye-to-eye, just having him there gave him some security. He hummed along to the music, tidying up as went along. He dealt with a few customers, processed a return of a shirt that had a greasy lipstick mark on the collar. The man, wearing a gold ring on his left hand, stated it had been there when he bought and Minho looked at him sceptically.

“It had?” He asked, disbelief evident in his voice.

“I thought I’d be able to get it out,” the customer said, lying straight through his teeth. “Anyway, I want a full refund.”

Minho massaged his temple. It was store policy to reject refunds on clothes that had been altered, stained, or fixed. If the shirt had a rip in the collar, he’d be able to accept the return under the default of faultiness of the product. If Kibum had been here, he likely would have made a snarky comment to the customer’s face and chased him out.

“I’m going to call my manager,” Minho then said as politely as he could. The man huffed.

“What for? I just want a refund.”

Minho then came clean. “I am unsure if I am allowed to give you a refund on a shirt that… is in this condition.”

The man grew visibly irritated, his eyes narrowing dangerously and his eyebrows furrowing into a deep seated frown. “In _what_ condition?”

Minho didn’t say anything further and instead grabbed the store phone and dialled up to the main office where Jimin picked up instantaneously.

“Yes?”

“Can you come down, there’s a refund I want you to check,” Minho asked. Jimin sighed on the other end.

“Describe the item.”

“It’s a powder blue shirt with a red lipstick mark on the collar,” Minho said as quietly as he could without the customer hearing. Jimin clicked her tongue against her teeth.

“No, we don’t refund items that are altered. If it was ripped, it’d be a different story. Tell the gentleman that the store policy does not allow stained items to be returned.”

“Alright,” Minho said, keeping a positive mind-set. He set the phone down and turned back to the man who was now typing on his phone with some force. He briefly looked up.

“I’ll accept my refund now,” he said, snidely.

Minho smiled. “Sorry sir, but my manager states that unless the shirt is faulty in anyway, we cannot return it.”

The man snatched the shirt back, his wedding ring glistening in the store light. Minho stared at it and then at the shirt and then back at the man who cursed under his breath and stormed out of the store, raging about poor customer service to anyone who would listen.

Minho sighed and sank back against the till counter, letting himself collect his previous confidence. He was used to dealing with hotheads, being a drama major and working with Kibum, but something about that situation didn’t settle right in his stomach.

“Hey, Minho, it’s four,” Seulgi shouted, making her way up the stairs. “I’m here to relieve you! Time to go home, buddy.”

Minho smiled and patted Seulgi’s shoulder in thanks. “What is it with customers and refunds?”

Seulgi shrugged. “Entitlement is a horrible, horrible thing. I heard the man as he left, you did the right thing by refusing to refund the item.”

“Thanks,” Minho said, his smile fading a little. He knew he had done the right thing by the store, but his mind couldn’t escape the wedding ring he had worn. What about what was right for his wife?

“Hey, if you see Kibum, tell him I hope he feels better soon,” Seulgi said with a soft smile. Minho was about to turn back and ask what gave her any indication that he and Kibum knew each other outside of work but she had ducked into the fitting room. He shook his head, clocked out and left the building, the sun still high in the sky and the warm air still tingling through his hair.

He took a train to Hongdae to go visit Jinki at the bubble tea café and maybe indulge in some fresh pineapple sorbet.

The train pulled up a minute later, and Minho stepped on, taking a spare seat towards the end of the carriage. He hitched his backpack onto his lap and let his thoughts roam free. He watched different passengers live their daily lives as the train rattled through the districts of Seoul, encased in darkness as the world above them moved around without any thought of the life below.

A girl sat opposite Minho, she had pink hair, a purple beret, and was wearing a puffy sleeved dress that looked handmade. She popped a bubble of pink bubblegum and stuck her eyes to the screen of her phone. She only glanced up once in a while to check the destination of the train before returning to her phone where she repeatedly scrolled her thumb through without much thought.

Minho watched her until she got off at the next stop, platform shoes bouncing on the train floor. She hopped off the train and disappeared into the crowd walking up the stairs. He wondered where she was going, what she was doing, and if she was aware that she looked like a character straight out of one of Taemin’s animes.

He shook his head and pulled out his own phone and texted Taemin.

_Have you gone to Mee-Cha yet?_

Taemin replied immediately with a photo of him holding his precious milk-tea ice cream topped with boba in a hand-made waffle cone. A big, greasy smile was on his face. Disgusting.

_Yes~!_

_I’m on my way, save a spot for me_ , Minho texted back. He then watched as his destination appeared on the LED destination blind. He stood up, brushed himself down and stood at the doors, waiting for them to whoosh open. He stepped out into the steaming hot subway station, fanning himself down as he hurried up the stairs, hoping there would be some sort of breeze the moment he made contact with the outside world.

There was no breeze, but it wasn’t as oppressively hot outside as it had been in the station. Minho crossed the street with a few other pedestrians and headed towards the café. When he approached, he saw Taemin first, sitting at the window, eating his ice-cream and reading a new manga. His legs swung back and forth on the stool, like a child.

Minho entered was greeted first by Jonghyun, wearing the polka dot shirt that Jinki always wore. Minho immediately let himself be surprised by Jonghyun’s presence, Jinki had definitely not mentioned the fact that Jonghyun was now working with him and he kind of wished he had because this was the perfect opportunity for some serious snooping.

“Hey,” Jonghyun said with casual familiarity. Minho stepped up to the counter. “What can I get you, Choi Minho?”

Minho snorted. “Just call me, Minho, hyung,” he said. Jonghyun shook his head.

“No, see, by law I only know of you by Kibum’s word of mouth and he always refers to you as Choi Minho.”

Minho quirked a brow.

“But I guess I can call you Minho-ssi,” Jonghyun said with a wink. “But, seriously, what can I, or my _lovely_ assistant, get you?” Jonghyun gestured to Jinki, who was washing a few bits of cutlery in the sink. He froze upon being called Jonghyun’s ‘lovely assistant’ and even Minho from here could tell his face was going red just from the fact that the tips of his ears look inflamed.

“I’ll just take a medium sized pineapple sorbet, please,” Minho ordered. He then handed over the money. Jonghyun punched the order in with a grin and Jinki grabbed the warmed up ice-cream scoop, shooting Minho wide-eyed looks of ‘help me’. Minho simply grinned wolfishly.

Jinki put four scoops of the pale yellow, fluffy sorbet into a medium sized container and handed it over to Minho.

“Enjoy your dessert,” he said with a forced smile. Minho grinned.

“I definitely will,” he returned, taking the tub and walking over to where Taemin was sitting.

“Isn’t it great?” Taemin hissed, putting his book down immediately. “They’re working together which means _Operation JinJong_ is working!”

Minho frowned. “What the hell is _Operation JinJong_?”

“Well, Jin is the first character of Jinki’s name and Jong is Jonghyun’s so I just put them together, like Brangelina.”

“But Brangelina takes the last part of Angelina’s name,” Minho pointed out, digging his wooden spoon into a soft, melting scoop of pineapple deliciousness and popped it into his mouth. Fresh. Tangy. It tingled all the right spots on a warm summer’s day.

“Okay so… Jinhyun,” Taemin rectified. “But that sounds like someone’s name.”

“But it sounds more feasible than JinJong, which sounds like a cartoon character from a Saturday morning TV show.” Minho stuffed more of the ice cream into his mouth, revelling in the way it melted across his tongue, placating any bitterness he had felt throughout the day. He then reached across to look at Taemin’s new book but was immediately slapped away.

“What the hell?” He said, holding his hand in surprise. Taemin scowled. “I just wanted to see what you were reading, bro!”

Taemin shook his head, waggling his finger. “You ask first, hyung. Always ask first.”

Minho rolled his eyes. “Whatever.” He knew immediately from Taemin’s reaction that it was definitely a boy’s love manga he was reading. Taemin had this wild belief that no one knew about his little addiction to boy’s love manga, but Minho had found his secret collection when he had been tidying one day in spring.

He had brought it up to Jinki the following morning who had confirmed that he had known about it since the beginning because of his credit card claims on his statement. In the end, Taemin’s addiction worked in favour for Minho because when Junmyeon, a friend of his from baseball practise, asked for help to get his sister a manga that he had never heard of (and was coincidentally one of Taemin’s favourites), he was able to provide some assistance. It helped that Junmyeon already knew Minho was gay, it saved any awkward conversation, and Minho could handle it if Junmyeon assumed he was the one reading the manga.

Taemin covered an arm over the book to protect it from Minho’s prying eyes.

“Anyway, I think Jongki suit’s Jinki-hyung and Jonghyun-hyung a little better,” Minho then said and Taemin frowned at him.

“That’s even worse than Jinhyun and you know it,” he countered. Minho sniffed. He then pushed Taemin a little.

Taemin immediately let out an unadulterated scream of terror and lost his balance on the stool. He fell down onto his backside.

 “Stop horsing around you two!” Jinki yelled from the counter. Jonghyun whistled appreciatively.

“Sorry, hyung,” Minho and Taemin said simultaneously. Taemin got back onto his stool, giving Minho a scathing glare.

“Oh, stop that. I didn’t even mean to push you that hard and you know it,” Minho grumbled.

“You fart on my pillows, how can I trust you don’t mean what you do?” Taemin questioned and Minho almost held back laughter. It didn’t really help that Taemin sounded completely distraught at being embarrassed and he almost felt sorry for Taemin if he wasn’t so easy to mess with.

“Is it okay if I take my break for a few minutes?” Jonghyun then asked from the counter. He made a show of rolling his shoulder and groaning in pain. Jinki, as whipped as he was, immediately said yes and Jonghyun disappeared into the backroom.

Jinki, alone in the café, raced to the front where Taemin and Minho were sitting and took a stool on the other side of Taemin. He cried out and rubbed at his face with his hands.

“I am a walking disaster. He’s so hot and I’m pathetic.”

Minho agreed, sucking on his spoon after finishing off the sorbet. “You _are_ pathetic. Why don’t you just go for it? I think Jonghyun might have the hots for you too.”

“Why? Because he called me his ‘lovely assistant’?”

“Well…”

“It could also be that he’s always checking you out when you’re not looking,” Taemin inserted into the debate. Jinki and Minho stared at Taemin. “What? I’m very observant. He was checking your ass out when you were serving me earlier.”

“Maybe he’s just an ass man,” Jinki suggested with a compliant smile. “I do have a nice ass.”

“You have a _great_ ass,” Minho said. “And that’s why Jonghyun was checking you out. Because he knows you have a great ass and he likes it.”

Taemin giggled to himself.

“But what about Kibum?” Jinki then said, visibly deflating.

“Fuck Kibum. Listen, hyung, I don’t think he and Jonghyun are dating, like at all,” Minho insisted.

“How can you be so sure?” Jinki then asked, tilting his head slightly.

Minho opened his mouth to retort when the door to the back swung open and all three of them looked up in scandalised surprise. Jonghyun stopped, staring at them with a weird expression.

“Now… Are you all gossiping about me because that’s what that silence usually means…”

“No, no!” Jinki said, immediately hopping down from the stool. “We weren’t talking about anything in particular.”

“You sure?” Jonghyun asked. Jinki dipped behind the counter and squeezed Jonghyun’s arm reassuringly. Jonghyun glanced down at Jinki’s hand and then back at his face, his cheeks turning a luminous pink.

“I’m sure,” Jinki said, gracing his features with that pretty, sunshine smile. Minho swore he watched Jonghyun melt under its beam.

“Anyway,” Taemin then started, keeping his voice. “Is Kibum the reason why you were so miserable this morning?”

Minho felt like his whole body had been turned to stone under the gaze of Taemin’s scrutinising glare.

Damn, he thought, this kid really is observant. Too observant for his own good.

“No,” Minho said with a laugh. “Don’t be silly. We hate each other.”

Taemin shook his head and turned back to his manga. “You should watch _Toradora_ , some time.”

Minho didn’t want to know what that even meant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey so i'm sorry for not updating on wednesday, i wasn't feeling myself and tbh i'm not feeling great today either but i don't have next sunday off so i should update today rather than leave it till wednesday again.
> 
> thanks to everyone who has left a comment or a kudos, you guys are awesome and i'm enjoying reading how you are reacting to the fic.
> 
> hope you enjoyed this chapter, i'll see you soon <33


	7. Chapter 7

To say that Jonghyun was having the time of his life was an understatement. Not only did his job allow him to work with the beautiful, the talented, the elusive Lee Jinki with the spectacular ass and gorgeous smile, but it also allowed him to eat as much ice cream as he wanted and drink as much bubble tea as he liked for _free_! It was considered a perk of working at the place.

He couldn’t picture what heaven would look like, but he imagined it was something like this. Since his first time trying bubble tea a week ago, he had grown a strong affinity for it and whenever the café grew quiet during the mid-afternoons, he always helped himself to a big cup of matcha milk tea and egg pudding for topping.

Yes, the bubble tea was sweet, but Lee Jinki must taste much sweeter.

He had thought, that since he started working here that maybe his chances with Jinki would grow exponentially but then Minho had managed to walk in and suddenly the three of them, including Taemin, were gossiping about something and even though Jinki tried to dissuade him from thinking otherwise, he honestly believed the gossip was somehow related to him.

The horrifying thought that maybe they were discussing his supposed “relationship” with Kibum entered his head a few times and maybe even danced the Sugar Plum Fairy dance through his thoughts to mock him.

A few times, Jonghyun had wanted to breach the subject about his designer jacket that had seen three different professional dry cleaners and was still stained in a very pale pink as a way to ask Jinki on a date but every time he worked the courage, someone or something interrupted him.

Typically the _someone or something_ were the customers coming in for a fresh bubble tea or instagramable ice cream. Sometimes, _someone or something_ meant Taemin looking to get his milk-tea ice cream fix and read in the corner of the café as if Jonghyun and Jinki both didn’t know he had a secret obsession for boy love manga.

And then sometimes the _someone or something_ would be Kim Kibum and Jung Nicole making their long-awaited appearance at the café.

It was a mid-morning on a Wednesday and the first thing Jonghyun wanted to ask them was why they weren’t at work but they threw money at him like he was a stripper before he could even get his mouth open.

“Oh, my word, you were right,” Nicole teased. “Jonghyun has finally joined the peasants.”

“What the hell are you on about?” Jonghyun asked, frowning.

“You working here. I thought your daddy paid off most of the school staff so you couldn’t work,” Kibum said. “When you said you couldn’t meet us for morning tea at the café you like with the waiter named Alejandro because it reminds you of the Lady Gaga song, I thought you were sick. Turns out, you’re a working person now.”

“Alright,” Jonghyun said in defeat. “You got me.”

“But why here of all places?” Nicole asked as if she were putting on an act. Both she and Kibum then stroked their chins in supposed thought and Jonghyun prayed for the torture to be over. “It couldn’t be because of! Oh!”

Kibum and Nicole gasped and turned to Jonghyun with petty smiles. “Lee Jinki!”

“Yeah?” Jinki then called out, opening the back door and poking his head around. His eyes immediately landed on Nicole and Kibum and he grew uncomfortable. “Did you want me?”

Nicole and Kibum snickered. Jonghyun turned to Jinki with a placated smile. “No, Jinki, they’re just messing around.”

“Oh,” Jinki said with a relieved smile. “Okay. I’ll be back here if you need me.” He ducked back into the stock room and Jonghyun turned to his best friends immediately.

“If you’re not here to order, get the hell out,” Jonghyun hissed.

Nicole tutted. “You need to be friendlier to your customers,” she said, shaking her head.

“I would be friendly if you were customers but right now you’re pains in my ass. What do you want?” Jonghyun griped. Kibum rolled his eyes.

“We’re going for morning tea, we don’t want anything,” he said. “Except to maybe tease you and your little love bunny!”

“Love bunny?” Nicole questioned. She wrinkled her nose. “What the hell?”

“Just roll with it,” Kibum insisted. “Anyway, if you feel like joining us uncommon folk for morning tea, just text me!”

“My break is in literally one hour. Can’t you wait?” Jonghyun pleaded, resting against the counter. Kibum pretended to think about it for a second before shaking his head.

“No can do. We have reservations. We will have to say it’s for two this time instead of three though.”

“Shove two up your ass,” Jonghyun sneered, flipping both middle fingers up at Kibum. He and Nicole laughed to themselves as they left the café. The shop fell silent and once more Jonghyun found himself wondering why he had chosen those two out of the rest of the world’s population to be his best friends.

“Are they gone?” Jinki asked, poking his head around the back door once more.

“Yeah,” Jonghyun said with a heavy sigh. “They’re gone.”

Jinki let out an exhale that definitely sounded something similar to ‘thank god’ and Jonghyun cracked a little smile. Yeah, he figured his friends were a little too much if you hadn’t met them before. Both Nicole and Kibum were like a Hydra together, but apart they were like housecats: loving and kind until your petting went too far.

“Your friends are…”

“Annoying. Irritating. Pains in the asses. Trust me, I know,” Jonghyun said. He stretched out over the counter and yawned. “God this morning is so slow.”

“Yeah,” Jinki agreed. He hopped onto the counter next to the bubble tea machine. “I put away all the stock that Yoojin told me to do yesterday. Apparently she’s hiring a few more people to work here so we don’t have to do every day.”

“What are you going to do with your first non-Sunday off?” Jonghyun asked with a grin. Jinki tilted his head to the side, lost in thought before answering.

“I might go watch Minho’s baseball game.”

“Minho plays baseball?” Jonghyun asked, mildly surprised.

“Oh, yeah, he loves sports. He’s not very good at most of them but he does try. I think he’s found his calling with baseball though,” Jinki said.

“I wonder why,” Jonghyun mused. He imagined, for a second, that maybe Minho was pretending that the little white and red-stitched baseball had Kibum’s sneering face plastered all over it.

Jinki began to laugh, tossing his head back and letting the sound bubble out of him. Jonghyun then realised he had said that entire thought process out loud. He slapped a hand over his gaping mouth and squeezed his eyes shut.

“Oh, my god,” Jinki breathed out as he rested his head against the bubble tea machine. “I never would have thought such thoughts would go through your head.”

“Trust me,” Jonghyun began. He felt his glasses slipping down his face and he righted them up his nose bridge before pinching at it. “He feels the same way.”

“I’m sure he does,” Jinki said nonchalantly. “What are you planning to do with your first non-Sunday off?”

Jonghyun sat up a little bit, resting his elbows against the clean counter. He dug his hand deep into his hair and scratched at his scalp as he puffed his left cheek out in thought. “Maybe just sleep?”

“Just sleep?” Jinki said with a hint of amusement. “Why don’t you come to Minho’s baseball game with me then? I think he’s playing tomorrow.”

“Do we both have tomorrow off?” Jonghyun asked, sitting up straight completely. He turned to press his back into the counter, facing Jinki directly.

“I believe so. I think that’s when Yoojin’s training the newbies,” Jinki said, swinging his legs back and forth.

“I guess it’s a date then,” Jonghyun said with a grin and Jinki’s face turned a hilariously deep shade of red. “I-I mean!”

“Why don’t you bring along Kibum and Nicole too, they might enjoy it.”

“Nicole definitely would. Kibum… I’d have to make sure Kibum gets nowhere near the baseball bats.”

Once more, Jinki tilted his head back and laughed freely and Jonghyun found himself admiring the curve of his jaw and the length of his neck, the way his Adam’s apple jutted out and Jonghyun wondered for a moment what it would be like to kiss him there, feel him jolt and giggle at the new sensation.

“I’m sure the baseball bats will be locked away safely so that Kibum can’t get anywhere near them,” Jinki then said with tears in his eyes.

Jonghyun grinned. “Will Taemin be accompanying us to the game?”

“Of course,” Jinki said with a strained smile. “He’ll be the noisiest one there, you won’t miss him.”

“Taemin seems fun,” Jonghyun said honestly. He then shrugged. “Nothing wrong with being a little noisy.”

Jinki jumped down from the counter and patted Jonghyun’s shoulder. “Taemin’s only fun if you like anime.”

“I like anime,” Jonghyun blurted out, blinking from behind his thick rimmed glasses. Jinki looked surprised.

“What… What kind of anime?” He asked.

“All sorts. I really like One Piece the most right now though,” Jonghyun said.

“I see,” Jinki said with a straight face. “I’ll let Taemin know. Maybe you’ll become best friends.”

Jonghyun only grinned and Jinki felt his heart flip in his chest.

For Jonghyun, the idea of spending the day with Jinki outside of work definitely left a lighter feeling in his chest, but the giant brick wall of Kibum’s stubbornness was still an obstacle he had to get past first. He just hoped that Kibum wasn’t going to be too difficult to convince. He then sighed. Who was he kidding? This was _Kibum_ after all.

* * *

“If you honestly think I’m going to waste my Thursday afternoon watching some geeks in shiny polyester uniforms then you _obviously_ do not know me,” Kibum said the moment Jonghyun opened his mouth to suggest such an idea. He hadn’t even let on the fact that one of those geeks in shiny polyester would be Minho and he figured doing so would not be the best way to convince him to step one foot into a stadium.

Nicole, sitting on Kibum’s bed, reading through her social media, immediately looked up at Jonghyun with an expression that might have suggested she could read his mind, but rather told him that she had a suspicion of his plan. “Yeah, like, you’ve never been into baseball, so why all of a sudden?”

“Exactly!” Kibum then stated, pointing his ballpoint pen in Nicole’s direction. He turned back to his play script where he was making notes next to Benedick’s lines; it was mainly diction and a few translations of archaic words that had never passed his vocabulary.

“Guys, this is a great way to spend time together,” Jonghyun tried again. Nicole gave him a pointed look and scrolled through her social media again.

“Oooh, there’s a new café that do unusual chapssalddeok flavours, we should go there,” she then said, turning to face Kibum who gave her a look of agreement.

“Guys!” Jonghyun tried again, throwing himself onto the end of Kibum’s bed with a pout.

“Give it up, Jonghyun, no one wants to go to your stupid baseball game. Go by yourself,” Kibum shot back. He flipped the script over and began to read each of Benedick’s lines to himself before grabbing his phone and translating a word.

Jonghyun then looked at Kibum’s phone, and then at Nicole’s, and a plan sparked into his head. He pulled out his own phone and opened up his phone conversation with Nicole and quickly texted her the truth. Nicole’s phone buzzed in her hand and her eyes skimmed across the top before she glanced at Jonghyun over the screen. A smile crept over her features when he nodded to confirm that yes, that was in fact the plan.

“Wait, so you’re telling me there’s gonna be cute boys there?” Nicole then asked. Kibum’s pen stilled.

“Tonnes and tonnes. I know you’re not interested, and I’m definitely not interested, but Kibum’s been going on and on about how he desperately needs a date this summer…” Jonghyun winked at Nicole when he saw Kibum sit up straight in his swivel chair.

“I dunno, Jonghyun, I don’t think Kibum would be interested in hunky, fit _geeks_ in shiny, tight polyester uniforms.”

“ _Tight_?” Kibum whispered painfully.

“Tight,” Jonghyun echoed for emphasis. Kibum’s grip on his pen became dangerously hard, his knuckles turning white. He slammed the pen down.

“You never said there would be cute boys there!” He shouted, swivelling around to face Jonghyun.

“Didn’t I? I guess it slipped my mind,” Jonghyun admitted, folding his arms over his chest. “But if you don’t want to go, I get it. There are better things to do on your Thursday afternoon… like edit play scripts.”

“Or jerk off to some 90’s porn,” Nicole added as a suggestion. Kibum’s face turned stony for a second before he let out a stiff exhale.

“I’ll go,” Kibum said. “I’ll go to the baseball game.”

“No, no,” Jonghyun said shaking his head. “You don’t have to if you don-“

“I’m going!” Kibum demanded. “Where is it being held?”

Nicole and Jonghyun shared a knowing grin for a split second. Kibum was so predictable.

* * *

The game wasn’t a necessarily big one, just a small friendly between two extra-curricular university teams, K-arts and Seoul Institute of the Arts. Both universities offered sports as a means to gather team spirit as well as exercise and once in a while, they would hold games at a nearby high school to promote healthy competition.

Being the Thursday that it was, the small field wasn’t particularly heaving, many benches were left completely free and Jonghyun, Kibum, and Nicole slipped into a nearby seat that wasn’t too close to the field but not too far away that the player’s face couldn’t be seen.

Kibum sniffed the air as he rubbed at his nose. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into this by bribing me with cute boys.”

Jonghyun snorted. “You bribed yourself. You’re a tacky guy, Kibum.”

Kibum gasped, scandalised, and slapped Jonghyun across the arm with a hard thwack. Jonghyun yelped and rubbed at his upper arm with a pout. “Take it back!” Kibum demanded.

“No, but, I would’ve done if you hadn’t hit me!”

Kibum scoffed and crossed his legs and folded his arms and let out a huff to tell Jonghyun just how displeased he was at the moment. Nicole, who witnessed the whole thing, massaged her forehead. At first, it had seemed like an easy idea to trick Kibum into coming to a game to see Minho without realising it but in hindsight, things should never have appeared easy when Kim Kibum was involved.

“How’s the script writing coming along?” Nicole then asked, offering her role as peacemaker between the friends.

“It’s going well. I have a feeling I have Benedick’s character down,” Kibum said with an air of confidence that could rival even the most veteran Shakespeare thespian.

“That’s good then,” Nicole said with a smile before turning away and sighing. Her eyes skimmed over the blank audience back towards the stairs when a familiar face poked over the edge of the staircase, staring back at her with wide eyes.

* * *

Jinki hadn’t expected Jonghyun and his friends to turn up so suddenly and the moment he and Taemin walked up the steps towards the benching area, his eyes had immediately landed on him. He inhaled sharply and pulled Taemin’s arm down so they both could duck behind a slanted wall.

“What the hell, hyung?” Taemin asked with an annoyed expression.

“Jonghyun’s here!”

“That’s supposed to be a good thing, remember?” Taemin said. He heighted himself on his tip-toes to get a look but was immediately pulled down by Jinki’s arm around his shoulder. “Hyung.”

“I’m not ready.”

“You are,” Taemin said, gripping his older brother’s shoulders tightly. He gave Jinki a reassuring smile. “We stayed up all night so you could be ready for this. Now, tell me, what anime we were watching last night?”

“ _My Hero Academia_ ,” Jinki replied mechanically.

“Exactly! Do you remember the characters names?”

“Not really?” Jinki replied with an honest shrug.

“That’s okay, you’re a newbie,” Taemin said with a pacified expression. “Let’s go get him, hyung!” He and Jinki fistbumped before making their way up the stairs once more. It was only when he saw Jonghyun with his arm around Kibum’s shoulders and laughing in his ear did Jinki give up completely. He deflated visibly and moped behind Taemin as they approached the seats behind Jonghyun, Kibum, and Nicole.

“Oh, hey guys!” Taemin said with a jovial wave. Jonghyun immediately retracted his arm from Kibum’s neck and turned around to smile at Jinki.

“I was wondering when you’d guys get here,” Jonghyun said with a happy smile. Jinki returned with a breathy one of his own and then ducked to hide his giddy expression.

“Wait a second,” Kibum then said, looking at Jinki and Taemin suspiciously. “There’s usually three of you. Why are there only two?”

Jonghyun and Nicole shot each other panicked looks as Kibum immediately solved the puzzle.

“Oh my God, you assholes!” Kibum shrieked, standing up. “You have officially _wasted_ my Thursday afternoon. I’m leaving.”

“You can’t leave,” Nicole then said, pulling Kibum back into his seat by the sleeve of his jacket. “The teams are coming out.”

Kibum watched in horror as two teams decked out in flamboyant costumes raced out onto the field to greet each other and wish each other a good game. Amongst the team wearing the K-arts school colours of red and grey was Minho adorning a brash jet-black ONE stitched beneath his last name on his red and grey striped jersey.

Minho then turned to the audience where Jinki and Taemin waved excitedly. Minho raised his hand up to wave back but it fell short when his eyes landed on Kibum sitting in front of them, looking like murder had befallen him.

His expression quirked into one of bemusement and, much to the surprise of everyone in the small group, he tipped his hat at Kibum as a gesture of thanks before skipping into the dugout.

Kibum’s face immediately grew warm and he didn’t want to admit that Minho’s gesture actually felt kind of nice to receive. When Nicole and Jonghyun began to tease him about it, he immediately flew into a rage and threatened to leave again.

Jinki was the one to speak up this time: “You can’t leave now, Minho knows you’re already here. You might as well just sit back and enjoy the game.

Kibum didn’t want to waste his time arguing about it anymore so he sat back in his seat, between Jonghyun and Nicole and watched as Minho’s team stepped out onto the field. The cap Minho was wearing looked worn and old, with small patches of fabric fraying from the tip of the brim.

“I got him a new hat for his birthday last year, why is he still wearing the one you bought him years ago?” Taemin asked Jinki in a hushed tone.

Kibum could feel Jonghyun immediately bristle beside him and he quickly rubbed at Jonghyun’s lower arm, giving him a gentle, sympathetic smile. It was all fun and games teasing him about his crush on Jinki, but Jonghyun was a romantic and a sensitive one at that, and Kibum was still his best friend.

Minho called something out to the infielders before rearing back, raising his left leg in the air, his right and left arms reeled back as he then crew a curveball towards the first batter of the Seoul Institute of the arts.

The ball twirled and landed into the catcher’s mitt perfectly.

“Strike!”

“Dang,” Kibum awed.

“I know right, he’s good,” Nicole said, equally in awe. Her mouth was hung open, eyes glued to Minho, as she edged further forward in her seat.

“How many innings does this game have?” Kibum then asked Jonghyun. Jonghyun, who’s eyes were focused on anywhere but Minho, gave Kibum a vague shrug. Kibum then turned back to Jinki who was watching Jonghyun with a worried expression. “Hey, Jinki-hyung, how many innings is a baseball game usually?”

“In a national game, it’s nine, but this is just a friendly college match so it’s only seven,” Taemin answered for him. Jinki didn’t realise he had been addressed until Taemin nudged him in the ribs.

“Oh, sorry, Kibum. Did you want something?”

Kibum gave Jinki a weird look before turning back to the field, just in time to hear the soft thwack of another ball hitting the catcher’s mitt, followed by another resounding “strike!”.

Kibum watched as Minho reeled himself back up, like a puppet on strings, before throwing a forkball, his index and pinkie fingers wrapped around the side of the ball, straight into the catcher’s middle.

“Strike three! You’re out!” Called the umpire and the first batter walked off, taking his helmet off and handing to the third batter sitting in the dugout. The coach comforted him as he sank onto the bench and rubbed at his dark hair.

Kibum, who had never really been into sports, watched with undivided attention as Minho pitched a perfect game until the 5th inning where he was replaced.

“Why are they replacing him?” Kibum then asked Taemin.

“Because pitching the way Minho does can really strain your arm and if he damages it, he won’t be able to play for a long time. It’s customary to switch out your pitchers in games like these, even if they are only short.”

Kibum hummed under his breath before turning back to look at the field. He could feel Nicole’s eyes watching him with a scary smile on her face that told him exactly what she was thinking. He gave her a glare and her grin grew like some sort of supervillain.

“I didn’t realise you were so concerned for Minho,” she whispered into his ear. Kibum shook his head.

“You are very mistaken, I’m concerned for the school. Those are our colours they’re wearing, you know.”

“Oh, I know,” Nicole said with an impish smile. “I know.”

Kibum, somehow, believe that she knew something else entirely and he really didn’t want to entertain that idea, even if he had an inkling as to what it could be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> helloooo
> 
> i'm really excited to see how you're all reacting to this story thus far. you all seemed to really enjoy the previous chapter so thank you so much!! <3
> 
> i hope you enjoy this chapter just as much :DDD
> 
> you can follow me on twitter: @jjong_bluemoon
> 
> see you next wednesday!!


	8. Chapter 8

How on Earth could one man be so aggravating? Kibum thought to himself the Friday morning. He was stood in one of the underground trains heading towards his work place, glossing over Minho’s untouched Instagram. After the marvel of a game he had played the day before, Kibum had taken it upon himself to do a little more research on his colleague. He knew that Minho had been a sports-geek in middle school and throughout high school as well, but he hadn’t anticipated that Minho would carry that hobby on through to college. Granted, he definitely got by on his skill in drama and performance rather than his sportsmanship, but his display of teamwork and determination had shone through the day before, leaving Kibum a little mystified.

Kibum scowled at his screen, staring at the three uploads on Minho’s account, all dated to last year and all from their high school’s track team. It was as if Minho’s life revolved around sports and nothing else!

He didn’t need social media to figure that part out anyway.

Figuring that trying to snoop through Minho’s life on Instagram was a waste of his time, Kibum slipped his phone back into the pocket of his favourite bomber jacket and zipped up the side. He wasn’t entirely sure why he was suddenly drawn to wanting to know more about Minho but he would be lying if he said he hadn’t been surprised watching him play baseball yesterday. Granted, he looked gaudy in the colour scheme, and the fact that Minho was wearing a hat that Jinki bought him centuries ago didn’t help Jonghyun in the grand scheme of things, but Minho had been impressive in his talent. He controlled the pitch like the controlled the stage.

As passing underground lights flickered by in decaying orange and bright yellow, Kibum saw himself in the reflection of one of the windows and wondered if maybe his presence at Minho’s baseball game had sort of fixed everything between them. Especially after the awkward week they had both shared.

When Kibum had returned to work on the Wednesday, he had asked Joohyun if he could be on the women’s department for the whole day, much to Minho’s confusion.

No matter how hard Kibum tried, he couldn’t forget the way Minho looked at him, completely hurt and detached.

The Thursday was no different when they both ran the delivery shift at 7am. Minho had been jittery the whole day and Kibum had now known why. When the store opened at 9am, Kibum worked the women’s department again and fought with a woman over a top that she wanted in a size small but Kibum was adamant they didn’t have. The woman then had the audacity to run around to every other member of staff and ask them and they all said the same thing: No, sorry, sold out. Try again next time.

Womenswear was full of drama, which Kibum usually lived for, but he didn’t appreciate the stares some of the customers gave him as he worked the fitting room. Women would walk around in their bra and panties, talking to their friends and Kibum would stand there unaffected, thinking about what Kim Soohyun looked like under all of his well-fitted suits.

After they had both left on the Thursday at lunch time, Kibum had suspected it would be the last time he saw Minho until today, but he had been proven wrong.

The train came to a squeaky stop at the station Kibum needed to alight at and he stepped off the train the second the doors swung open. He walked up the stairs, thinking to himself that he should go back to menswear so he could get a chance to talk to Minho, maybe explain himself a little bit.

He’d spoken his apology in his head, over and over, making sure it was perfect but not rehearsed. Minho was an actor, he would be able to tell when something was rehearsed.

As he left the station, shielding his eyes from the blaring morning sun, Kibum checked his phone again, weaving past people like second nature.

Jonghyun was notorious for posting either one of two things onto his Instagram. It was either a vapid and narcissistic selfie or a stupid and very low quality photo of his precious dog. Today it seemed like Jonghyun was taking a different approach as he posted a photo of his hand, bitten nails included, holding a plastic cup full of murky green bubble tea, black boba pearls sunk at the bottom looking like tiny little pupils spying through a witch’s brew.

Kibum shuddered, how Jonghyun managed to make one of the tastiest drinks on the planet so unappealing was beyond him.

Nicole had already left him a comment underneath the photo.

 **JnicJ** : _your manicure looks chipped._

 **Jjjong** : _shut up nicole._

Kibum laughed through his nose before taking a brief glance up to see Seulgi unlocking the door, keys dangling from the end of her holographic lanyard.

“Hey!” Kibum shouted and Seulgi nearly dropped the keys in surprise.

“Oh, hey, Kibum,” Seulgi said with that same calm tone she usually wore. “How are you doing?”

“I’m doing great. That migraine is long gone,” Kibum said with a sweet smile. That migraine had of course been his bruised ego, but no one needed to know that.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Seulgi said with a soft smile. She unlocked the door with a click and swung it open so she and Kibum could duck in.

“Hey, wait!” A voice called out from behind and for a split second, both Seulgi and Kibum thought about locking the door in case it was a customer, but when they both looked behind them, they saw Minho running up the street.

“Hurry up!” Seulgi shouted and Minho nearly hit the door with the speed he was running. He caught his breath, thanking Seulgi in between gulps of air. “Dang, you run fast.”

“He used to take track at high school,” Kibum explained and Minho gave him a look of shock. “What?” He then snapped.

“I’m surprised you remembered that,” Minho said, breathlessly. Seulgi locked the doors and began to move into the shop to get to the staff room.

“Yeah, well, I can’t really forget about the fact you won our school like six trophies in one year,” Kibum commented and Minho stood completely still, even more shocked than before. “Are you going to keep doing that?”

“You’re being nice to me,” Minho mentioned.

“Yeah, well…” Kibum suddenly became embarrassed and lost his words for a second. He scratched at the base of his neck for a second, his apology completely escaping him. “I figured maybe it was time to grow up a little bit. You seemed surprised to see me yesterday.”

“I was,” Minho replied honestly. “I never would have thought you’d be the type to step anywhere near a baseball field.”

“I’m not,” Kibum snorted. “Trust me. Jonghyun convinced me to go…”

Minho whistled as the two made their way towards the doors closing the shop floor off from the staffroom and the back stock rooms. “How did he manage that?”

Kibum shrugged. “Cute boys.”

Minho faltered in his step for a second, frowning. When Kibum swung the door open and held it out to him with an unimpressed look at being forced to wait, Minho then asked: “Are you going to hate me once we go back to school?” His voice was tentative, unsure.

“Not unless you give me a reason to,” Kibum threw over his shoulder as they climbed the stairs. Minho gave Kibum a pretty smile and Kibum nearly tripped on air. That was weird.

Minho helped pick him back up and the two walked to the staff room in silence. He couldn’t help but let the winning smile creep over his features. To have Kibum be nice to him, that wasn’t something he was sure he’d live to see in this day and age.

* * *

Jinki washed his hands vigorously, rubbing his skin raw red until he deemed them food-safe and satisfactory. Behind him he could feel Jonghyun hover around him anxiously. Jinki inhaled and then exhaled shakily, steadying himself. He had planned for Minho’s baseball game to be an easy ticket into getting know Jonghyun a little better outside of work but it hadn’t been fruitful.

Halfway through the game, Jonghyun had become silent, distant, and mopey. He didn’t respond to anyone, not even Kibum, and once the game had finished, he was one of the first to leave without even saying goodbye to Jinki. Kibum followed after him almost as quickly, sensing that Jonghyun’s departure would give him reason to escape before any awkward confrontation with Minho. Nicole had been the one to apologise for the both of them before she, herself, ran away, leaving Taemin and Jinki sitting alone.

When Jinki got home that night with Minho and Taemin, he had gone straight to bed and lamented about why he had spent the best part of a Wednesday night binge-watching an anime that he, admittedly, enjoyed for the most part when he could have been sleeping and getting his head into the game of flirting with Jonghyun.

He didn’t leave his room once, not even when Taemin ordered him spicy fried chicken and tteokbokki.

He hadn’t even slept for most of the night, he just tossed and turned and screwed his eyes shut in the hopes that sleep would come over him and before he knew it, it was 8am and he needed to get up for work. Work - where he would be with Jonghyun for the entire day.

Feeling Jonghyun’s eyes on him made his stomach flip in all sorts of weird directions and from the moment Jonghyun had walked in through the back door wearing his uniform, usual cheery smile on his pretty face, Jinki’s heart had yet to stop stuttering. 

Jinki awkwardly stepped aside and let Jonghyun wash his hands. He stuck around for a moment, trying to think of something to say but then Jonghyun sniffed and blinked at himself in the overhead mirror and Jinki left to go out onto the shop floor.

“Good morning, Jinki,” Yoojin said as she snapped food-grade gloves onto her hands. “You seem… chipper.”

“I didn’t sleep last night,” Jinki admitted, letting a yawn slip by him.

Yoojin tutted. “Hopefully you’ll tire yourself out working today then,” she said with a sympathetic smile. Jonghyun entered the shop floor a second after she had spoken.

“Good morning,” Jonghyun greeted with a forced smile.

“Good morning to you too, Jonghyun. Didn’t sleep either?”

“Huh?”

Yoojin shook her head. “Never mind. Let’s get those customers into today boys. You both know what you’re doing. I’m just going to put out some more of these cones and then I’m going to be out back if you need me.”

“Yes ma’am!” Jinki and Jonghyun said in unison and Yoojin grinned at them with a sense of enthusiasm. She then turned her back to them and began to unpack plastic wrapped stacks of cones as long as her arm. Jinki watched as she placed them meticulously into the little cubbies where they would later be fished out from when customers demanded a sugar cone for their ice cream. Once a feasible amount had been put out, Yoojin kicked the box of the remaining cones into the backroom for when stocks ran low and then snapped her gloves off and retreated through the doors leaving Jonghyun and Jinki alone.

“It… was nice seeing you yesterday,” Jinki said after a long awkward pause. Jonghyun, resting against one of the counters simply gave Jinki a weak smile and a small nod. “What made you leave so early?”

“Emergency.” Jonghyun’s reply was short and clipped and it made Jinki’s heart stop beating.

“Oh…” Jinki said. He grabbed a wet wipe from near the sink and began to clean around the sneeze guard, catching glimpses of Jonghyun through the glass. He was looking at Jinki forlornly, his eyebrows knitted together and dipped and his mouth curved downwards. He looked like a kicked puppy on a miserable, rainy day.

“How did you manage to convince Kibum to come with you?” Jinki then asked, standing up completely and looking at Jonghyun over the glass cabinet. Jonghyun looked at him with vague interest for a moment.

“I promised cute boys.”

Jinki paused as he ran the wipe over the top of the counter. Wait, what?

He gave Jonghyun a perplexed look, a look that Jonghyun shared back at him.

“What?” Jonghyun asked.

“Why would you need to promise him cute boys if you two are…” Jinki cut himself off and ducked back down behind the counter, this time not visible through the glass as his cheeks began to warm.

“If we are?” Jonghyun prompted, leaning against the front counter to look at Jinki directly. He blinked behind his thick glasses.

“Dating,” Jinki finished, swallowing down his words. Jonghyun blinked again before he burst out into laughter. It shook through his whole body, Jonghyun slamming his hand against the counter as he gasped for air. “What’s so funny?”

“You think Kibum and I are dating?” Jonghyun asked with a weird smile.

“Yeah, everyone thinks that,” Jinki admitted. Jonghyun’s shoulders sagged but his smile didn’t lose any spark. “Like, he bought you that designer jacket-“

“Because Kibum’s loaded,” Jonghyun explained.

“Because Kibum’s loaded… Wait…” Jinki’s eyes widened. “So… that’s just normal for you?”

“Yeah, kinda,” Jonghyun said with a shrug. “I always buy him designer stuff and he buys me designer stuff. One time I bought him a shirt from a _Moschino_ exclusive runway event, it turned out he had sent a buyer over there in his name to buy the exact same shirt. He has two of them. He sleeps in the one I bought him.”

“But, but, but!” Jinki reasoned, his hands shaking. “You’re always together and you’re always touching each other.”

Jonghyun shrugged again and it was starting to grow on Jinki’s nerves. “We’re always together because we’ve always _been_ together. Our dads know each other in politics. And I’m just a very touchy-feely person.”

“So, you and Kibum are not dating?” Jinki asked for clarification.

“Absolutely not. In fact, if Kibum were here to hear this, he’d be disgusted. He literally retches at the idea.”

Jinki thought back to that moment in the cafeteria when Kibum began to gag suddenly, gathering the attention of nearly everyone in the vicinity. At first Jinki had assumed he’d eaten something he didn’t like or tasted off, but now it made sense with the way Jonghyun had been grinning at him.

“Oh…” Jinki said as realisation dawned on him. “Oh!” He suddenly began to grow excited, finally seeing his chance with Jonghyun. His feet grew twitchy against the floor and he suddenly wanted to run for miles and miles in celebration because Kim Jonghyun _wasn’t dating_ Kim Kibum.

But… that didn’t mean he was single it just meant that one obstacle was out of Jinki’s way.

Unfortunately for Jinki, he had run out of time as door to the café swung open and a string of female students carrying their IDs on lanyards and encyclopaedia sized text books gripped in their arms. Both Jinki and Jonghyun put their game faces on and whilst Jonghyun took his place at the register, Jinki snapped on some gloves, ready to take their orders.

* * *

Towards the end of their shift, Kibum was sweeping up the floor along the menswear department whilst Minho checked for standards. The music in the shop had been turned off completely and only them and Krystal on the lower floor remained in the shop. Seulgi and Boah had gone to the main office to cash up.

Kibum kept sneaking glances over at Minho as he swept up, watching at how he stretched to hang shirts back into their right places, above the blazers. If he moved to the right angle he could get a sneak peek at the stretch of skin across Minho’s abdomen.

He suddenly shook his head, trying to rid himself of such an idea before throwing himself completely into sweeping, turning away from Minho completely.

“Hey,” Minho said after a moment. “Need some help, I’m done with standardising.”

“Um…” Kibum was wordless. “Sure?”

Minho grinned and quick walked to the till area and pulled out a dustpan and brush and began to sweep up the little piles of dust bunnies that Kibum had been collecting.

“Do you… play baseball often then?” Kibum asked. Minho looked up at him and then smiled.

“Why? Wanna come see another game?”

Kibum rolled his eyes. “As if.”

Minho grinned, as if he didn’t believe him and Kibum didn’t blame him because he didn’t believe himself either. “I play as often as I can. I usually try and make try-outs when this job will let me.”

“You’re really good, you know,” Kibum then said and Minho immediately stopped sweeping and gawked at him.

“You think so?” He asked, standing up completely with a dustpan full of dark grey fuzz. “I just think I’m average, there are better pitchers out there.” He walked over and tipped the contents of the pan into a bin.

“Sure, there might be better pitchers but you’re really good for you.”

“Well, thanks,” Minho said with tinted rose cheeks. He then crept closer to Kibum, his nose inches from Kibum’s. Kibum balked, staring down at Minho’s lips before glancing into his eyes. “You’re not just saying that so I quit drama, are you?”

Kibum laughed softly. “Aw shoot, you saw right through me.”

Minho chuckled along with him. “Sorry, Kibum, no luck here.”

He had expected Kibum’s face to darken, for his tone to become acerbic like it had done before but instead he just smiled at him. “Well, if you left, I would have no competition to push me to becoming better.”

He then ducked away from Minho and put the sweeper brush away.

“So, you’re admitting that you would be bored in drama without me there?” Minho questioned, folding his arms.

“I’m admitting that I want to be better than you,” Kibum stated, he sauntered closer, hips swaying until he reached Minho’s personal space. “And I will be.”

Minho blinked at him for a second. From this distance Minho could see all the intricacies of Kibum’s pretty face, like how his nose curved too perfectly to be natural but was still too wonky to be fake, how he had tiny little beige freckles all across his cheeks and his nose and forehead that were too faint to be seen unless up close. The scar that traced over his right eyebrow, leaving the tip pitching out into a fork shape.

His eyes trailed over all the slight features into his eyes, his deep brown eyes with a hint of green around the edges. He looked determined and controlled. Minho swallowed thickly, feeling something unfamiliar stir in the pit of his stomach.

“Hey guys, you can come up to clock out,” Boah’s voice rung out throughout the entire store. Minho immediately stepped away from Kibum, feeling heat creep over his neck and cheeks and ears and Kibum smirked.

“When this summer is over and we go back to school, I’m going to prove to you how good I can be,” he said before walking away and Minho choked on air.

He didn’t doubt it for a second.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> is this what they call progress?
> 
> anyway, i'm super sorry about replying to all of your lovely comments so late. i won't make excuses but yeah, if you know you know but work has been pretty much killing me from the inside out so i have basically like 1 day to myself to do things ;;
> 
> i hope you enjoyed this little chapter! See you on Sunday! <3


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I want to start this off by apologising to you all for suddenly leaving. A few things got a bit difficult and I had sacrifice something to try and stay afloat which ended up being my fanfiction.  
> But, thankfully, my hours at work have started to calm down, and I'm on my way to graduating and I shall be embarking on an exciting new adventure next October. So, things are definitely looking up for me now.
> 
> Also, for the past few months, I hadn't been listening to SHINee as much but I've been trying to involve myself more in their music and I think I shall hopefully creating a few more new fics whilst I can <3
> 
> Thank you all for being so patient with me. I really appreciate it.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter and all of it's antics <33

Usually on Sundays Minho would spend his morning going for a light jog around the neighbourhood, sometimes Jinki would be awake early enough to join him and sometimes he would be alone, listening to the spirit of nature as it blew through the trees, rustling the leaves.

On this particular Sunday however, Taemin was the first one awake in the entire apartment, and for once it wasn’t because he had pulled another all-nighter playing Kingdom Hearts. He was in the kitchen pouring himself a glass of orange juice when Minho stumbled out of the bedroom at 6am, sleep packed in the corner of his eyes, pyjamas rumpled from a fitful sleep.

“Good morning,” Taemin said, gulping down the orange juice like it was a health potion. “You’re up early.”

“I should be the one saying that,” Minho mumbled, scratching at his mussed up hair. “I’m always up early on Sundays.” He said it with such a matter of fact that it almost pissed Minho off when Taemin gave him a nonchalant shrug that suggested otherwise.

“Hyung will be up in a few minutes. We’re all going for a jog,” Taemin said. He put his empty glass in the sink and then sat down on the sofa in the adjoined common room. Minho followed his movements, blinking wildly.

“We’re all… wait, _what_? You’re coming with us?” Minho asked incredulously, pointing at Taemin. His mouth was gaped open and Taemin fluttered his eyelashes in a sarcastic way. “No way, you’re joking. You don’t do exercise.”

Taemin’s smile grew a little temperamental as it spread across his face. He inhaled calmly. “Minho-hyung, you will understand when Jinki-hyung tells you everything.”

As if on cue, Jinki left his own bedroom wearing his usual grey t-shirt and athletic shorts. His hair was tousled and wet. “Oh, hey, Minho. You’re up late.”

“That’s what _I_ said,” Taemin lied, dodging when Minho’s hand came out to swat at him.

“I’m going to fart on your pillow now,” Minho said dangerously.

“No, don’t!” Taemin pleaded. “I’ll behave!”

“Stop bullying Taemin, Minho,” Jinki said in a disinterested tone as he rummaged through the fridge for something to drink. He pulled out the carton of orange juice and shook it. It was empty. “Who put an empty carton in the fridge?”

“Taemin did it,” Minho said instantaneously. “I’m going to get dressed. Have fun,” he said this last part to Taemin who watched him with an open mouth, betrayal written all over his face. Minho didn’t have time to feel sorry for Taemin as he was running on a schedule he didn’t know had existed until this moment. He rushed through his morning routine of brushing his teeth and washing his face and quickly threw on his navy sports shirt and some old athletic shorts.

When the three of them piled out of the apartment to take the elevator down to the reception, Taemin taking a second to grab something from the closet in his shared room, Minho couldn’t help but notice Taemin’s attire. He was wearing skinny black jeans and a long sleeved top.

“Taemin, I don’t mean to judge but… can you jog comfortably in those?”

Jinki also used this moment to take notice before clapping a hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing.

Taemin glanced down at himself before shaking his head. “Of course not, do you think I’m actually jogging with you?”

It was then that Minho noticed that Taemin had been carrying something. That something happened to be a skateboard.

“You’re skating whilst we jog?” Minho deduced and Taemin flashed him a smile.

“Exactly!”

No wonder Taemin was more than willing to do some exercise… Because he wasn’t really doing any exercise at all! Minho tapped his foot against the metallic floor of the elevator, trying not lose face after being tricked by his long-time friend.

“I bet I can get from one end of the park quicker than you can,” Taemin dared as they left the reception and turned right, heading towards a local park with a scenic path that ran along an artificial pond. During the summer ducks and koi fish could be seen bobbing in the water.

“I’m not racing you,” Minho said with a smug smirk.

“Chicken,” Taemin then said, dropping his skateboard to the floor as soon as they reached the main gate leading into the park. He tucked his hands under his armpits and flapped his arms up and down, bawking at Minho.

“Oh, just piss off, Taemin,” Minho cursed after a long second of Taemin’s incessant squawking. Taemin didn’t need to be told twice and was immediately skating down the gravelled path with the shakiness of an amateur with little practise. Minho then turned to Jinki.

“Taemin says you have something to tell me.”

Jinki, stretching his legs out, stood up straight and nodded. “Yeah, it’s about Jonghyun.”

Minho joined Jinki in with his stretches. “What about him?”

“Well, those rumours about him and Kibum,” Jinki started, stretching his arms across his chest. Left arm, right arm. “They’re not true.”

Minho rolled his eyes. “Well, duh.”

“No, I mean, Jonghyun outright told me they’re not true,” Jinki explained further. Minho paused his stretching to stare at Jinki with wide eyes. “Yeah, that was my reaction too. Apparently, Kibum _hates_ the idea of them two dating.”

“Wow,” Minho said with a whistle. “So… you have a chance, right?”

“Well…” Jinki trailed off. “I don’t know if he’s single…”

“Listen, hyung,” Minho started, placing an attentive hand on Jinki’s shoulder, he then used the leverage to stretch his legs out. “If he’s not dating Kibum, he’s not dating anyone. No one would go near him with those rumours.”

“What if he’s clarified them with other people though,” Jinki worried.

“What if he hasn’t and you’re the first?” Minho suggested with a half-grin. “Take this chance; you never know what could happen.” He turned to start jogging, throwing over his shoulder: “I can already hear the wedding bells!”

“Go away!” Jinki shouted as he started to jog too.

* * *

There was a knock at Kibum’s door at around 9 in the morning that gave Kibum the feeling that his day was going to be lost to the masses. He had been pouring himself over his script since half 8 and was actually making decent progress with the latter acts. He stayed still for a moment, hoping that whoever was knocking would go away.

Another series of knocks came, more urgent than the last and Kibum gave a resigned sigh. He walked over to the door and threw it open with a displeased face. Jonghyun and Nicole stood outside his room with big smiles on their faces.

“Morning!” They sang together and Kibum shuddered.

“Who are you?” Kibum then asked, propping himself against the door frame.

“Oh, don’t be like that,” Jonghyun said, reaching out to squeeze Kibum’s shoulder. His hand was immediately swatted away. “Kibum.”

“Listen, I don’t know why you think you can pull a stunt like you did on Thursday and expect to call yourself my best friend…” He then turned to Nicole. “I know you knew as well, so you’re out too.”

Nicole rolled her eyes. “Oh, get over it, you big drama queen. I know it’s not us you’re really mad at.”

Kibum cocked a brow. “You’re so sure about that?”

“I’m positive. You’re mad at yourself because you enjoyed the match and you thought Minho was pretty good at baseball.”

Kibum stood still for a moment, his face frozen. It then darkened and he made a move to close the door on his friends when Jonghyun put his foot out, endangering his limited edition Adidas trainers.

“Let’s go out. I need to walk Roo,” Jonghyun said.

“You never walk Roo,” Kibum said with a squint. “What happened?”

Jonghyun stiffly looked at Nicole, who nodded solemnly. Jonghyun then removed his foot from the edge of Kibum’s doorframe. “I fell down the stairs.”

Kibum laughed through his nose before clamping a hand over his mouth as little releases of gasped laughter came through. Laughter racked through his body that Kibum had to lean against his doorway to keep himself up right.

“You- You fell down the st-stairs?” Kibum gasped out, eyes tearing up. “How?”

“Roo… knocked me over.”

That was it. Kibum was on his knees, arms wrapped around his waist as he shook with shrieking laughter.

“She was just there on the third step and I wasn’t paying attention and my foot hit her fluffy little body and I went flying down the stairs,” Jonghyun continued to explain, holding his sore ribcage. “I’ve bruised my back and my ribs and I nearly broke my toe- This isn’t that funny, Kibum!”

“It’s hilarious! I told you your dog was getting fat! I can’t believe you had to fall down the stairs to put her on a diet.”

By this point, Nicole had also started to laugh. She had twisted her body away from Jonghyun’s periphery, the only clue of her betrayal showing through her shaking shoulders.

“Will you just go with us to walk Roo? It’d be good to get some fresh air,” Jonghyun pleaded, cheeks red as tomatoes.

Kibum let up his laughter and agreed, closing the door for a minute to grab some trainers. He locked his door as Nicole and Jonghyun began their descent down the stairs to the exit, where Roo had been tied up against a cycle rack. She then began barking in exhilaration at seeing her owner again.

When Kibum came out of the exit, onto the quad outside his apartment complex, Jonghyun and Roo were already a few feet ahead, the dog yipping at Jonghyun’s feet. Nicole was stood against one of the brick walls separating the grass knolls from the pavement that ran along the apartment complexes in a square.

“So, did he actually fall down the stairs?” Kibum asked as he and Nicole began to walk in tandem, Jonghyun lost to them in the horizon.

“As far as I know. He has a big bruise across his shoulders.”

“Yikes, I kinda feel bad for laughing but… just the idea of it,” Kibum began to choke out bursts of restrained laughter and Nicole began to giggle along with him. “Where is Jonghyun going?”

“Apparently there’s a nice park nearby that has a big pond with ducks and koi fish,” Nicole explained. “Jonghyun thought it would be nice to walk Roo around there.”

“She can’t swim though,” Kibum spat out. “If she falls in the water he’s got to dive in after her.”

Nicole stopped and started at Kibum with wide eyes. “Well…”

“You better hope one of us has good enough reflexes to film it,” Kibum then said and Nicole shoved her friend with a smirk. “What? You were thinking it too.”

“How Jonghyun puts up with you, I don’t know,” she said with a shake of her head.

“He doesn’t… most of the time,” Kibum said with a shrug.

Jonghyun was already lost in the grass by the time Nicole and Kibum approached the park. The sun was getting higher in the sky, big, bold, and bright as it beamed down rays of gold against the lusciously green grass. Even from a distance, Kibum could still hear Roo’s excited yipping and Jonghyun’s breathless laughter as he was chased across the planes of green.

The park was still relatively quiet until Kibum’s eyes landed on a group of three a few feet away sitting on a bench, each eating an ice-cream cone. One of them had a skateboard propped up against the bench, whilst the tallest of the group with long gangly legs sat on the arm of the bench as there wasn’t enough room for him to sit on the wooden seat.

“Oh, you’re kidding,” Kibum groaned when he recognised that mop of dark hair.

Nicole, not immediately understanding Kibum’s lamentation, looked over to where his eyes were glued to and began to smile with glee. “Oh, well, well, well! Look at the chances of that.” She then turned to Kibum with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “We should go over and talk to them.”

“Are you mad!?” Kibum hissed, grabbing Nicole’s arm tightly. “Don’t you think I have enough to deal with seeing Minho’s face every day at work?”

Nicole’s smile faded for a second as she pried Kibum’s hand from her arm. “I think this push-and-pull you have going on is getting old. Minho’s a nice guy and I think you two would get along.”

Kibum huffed. “Not in a blue moon.”

Jonghyun joined them a second later, Roo still nipping at his ankles in excitement, and immediately read Kibum’s face of disgust and Nicole’s smile of elation and pegged on. “Is Minho here?” He asked.

“How could you tell?” Kibum asked with dripping sarcasm. “He’s sat over there with Taemin and Jinki.”

At the mention of Jinki’s name, Jonghyun perked up and looked over in their direction. Jinki was indeed sat on the bench next to Minho’s fascinatingly long legs, eating a pink coloured ice cream and laughing at something Minho was saying. He also had an urge to go over there but when Minho leant down and brushed aside some of Jinki’s hair, he immediately fought against it.

“They’re sickening,” Kibum cursed out. “I don’t get why this needs to be a rumour, they’re obviously dating.”

“I don’t know, maybe Minho’s the touchy-feely type,” Nicole suggested peacefully. “Like you,” she added this final point to Jonghyun who had sub-consciously wrapped his hand around Kibum’s wrist for security. Both Kibum and Jonghyun looked down at their joined hands and then immediately parted with scowls.

“Uh, they’re looking at us now,” Jonghyun then whispered. Kibum looked over to the bench and saw three pairs of eyes glancing over in their direction with unreadable expressions. Internally, Kibum groaned at his misfortune when Taemin beckoned them over with swooping gestures of his left arm in the air.

Nicole was first to walk over, followed by Jonghyun and Roo, leaving Kibum to trail on behind them, frown deepening until his eyes were lost under his furrowed brows.

“Hey guys!” Taemin called out when they got closer. “What are you doing here?”

“Walking the dog,” Nicole answered, gesturing to Roo’s fat wiggling body as she looked up at the three ice-cream cones in Taemin’s, Jinki’s, and Minho’s hands. Her big, watery eyes landed on Jinki as an easy target and she immediately waddled over to him and laid down at his feet, snuffling her snout on his trainers. Jinki’s face immediately melted into awe and he snapped off a piece of his sugar cone and gave it to the small dog.

“Who’s dog is it?” Minho then asked. It was like Kibum was drawn to his voice magnetically, his eyes immediately launching to look at him as he rolled the small, soft white ball of ice cream over his long, pink tongue. Kibum swallowed and then pointedly looked away when Minho raised a brow in his direction.

“Mine,” Jonghyun admitted, watching as Jinki suckled on his own ice cream and patting Roo’s little face with his free hand. He immediately looked up with a gooey smile.

“She’s so cute,” he cooed and Jonghyun grinned bashfully.

“She’s his pride and joy,” Kibum added and Jinki laughed cheerfully. He scratched the dog behind her long, fluffy ears and Jonghyun fidgeted beside Kibum.

“Anyway, why are you having ice cream so early in the morning?” Nicole asked, giving everyone’s cones an envious glance-over.

“Because we could,” Taemin answered as he crunched on the last part of his cone before giving the tip to Roo, who wagged her tail at him in delight.

“Because Taemin begged,” Jinki corrected with a slight edge to his voice. “Are you three going to be around for a while?”

“No,” Kibum replied.

“Yes,” Nicole and Jonghyun said at the same time as Kibum, intercepting his negativity. He immediately glared at them.

“I have an old Frisbee back at my apartment that we can use with Roo,” Minho suggested. Kibum wanted to groan. He really didn’t want to spend his Sunday with Minho when he had to work with him all morning the next day.

“That sounds like a perfect idea,” Nicole said, clapping her hands together. “Why doesn’t Kibum join you?”

“What?” Kibum hissed. Minho jumped off the bench and brushed himself down. Nicole pulled Kibum away from the crowd.

“Just go, let Jonghyun and Jinki spend some time together,” Nicole whispered into his ear.

Kibum grumbled under his breath. “For Jonghyun.”

He then pulled his arm out of Nicole’s weirdly tight grip and walked away from the park with Minho, the two keeping a comical distance from each other.

“Do you think those two are ever gonna get together?” Taemin wondered aloud.

Jonghyun and Nicole stared at Taemin with amused expressions before deciphering what he had meant and gave each other a weird and mystified glance. Surely they were both thinking the same thing – if Taemin wanted Minho and Kibum to get together, then that meant that Minho and Jinki couldn’t be dating because if anyone would know, it would be Jinki’s little brother.

A smirk wormed its way over Jonghyun’s lips.

“I don’t know,” he responded, his eyes fixed on Jinki who was still fascinated by his dog. “But we can sure as hell try and push them together.”

Taemin’s eyes lit up. “Do you know who they remind me of?” He then asked.

“No, who?” Jinki asked, taking a brief moment to join the conversation. Roo licked at his hand for ignoring her.

“Winry and Ed,” Taemin replied as if it were obvious. Nicole and Jinki shared a bemused expression as Jonghyun clapped his hands together.

“Yes, I totally see it!”

“Wh- You know what, I don’t want to know,” Jinki admitted in defeat. He stood up from the bench, also brushing himself down, freeing himself of any sticky crumbs. Roo barked in delight at the shower of crunchy food that she could engorge herself with.

“Why don’t you two take Roo for a walk around the park whilst Minho and Kibum go fetch the Frisbee?” Nicole suggested with a mischievous glint in her eyes. She immediately looked at Taemin who shared the impish look.

“Oh, I er…” Jonghyun began to stutter as Nicole not-so-subtly pushed him towards Jinki. Roo followed after him, barking between him and Jinki in excitement and confusion.

Jinki, then, took caution to the wind and grabbed Jonghyun’s wrist carefully and the two began to walk out onto the big patch of green near the pond as Roo began to run around their ankles before growing bored and switched to chasing after her own tail, spinning in dizzying circles.

Nicole and Taemin watched on from the bench, both feeling a sense of accomplishment.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you're all ready for cliches!

Minho walked in long strides beside Kibum’s short, stunted ones. They remained silent, Minho’s hands clamped behind his back whilst Kibum kept his arms firmly crossed across his chest. Minho’s apartment was only a few blocks away from the park, a shorter distance than Kibum’s own accommodation.

“I didn’t realise you lived nearby,” Minho then said as he opened the apartment complex entrance with a key-code. He held the door open for Kibum to follow in after him but Kibum leant forward to hold the door open himself, giving Minho a pointed look. Minho sighed and let go, letting Kibum lead himself into the entrance.

“Yeah, well,” Kibum said offhandedly. Minho glanced over his shoulder at Kibum. “What?”

“You’re very… hot and cold,” Minho surmised with squinted eyes. Kibum raised a brow. “You know what I mean?”

“I know you’re an idiot,” Kibum scoffed with a roll of his eyes. Minho shook his head and called for an elevator. He stood, feet together on the dirty welcome mat in front of one of the elevator doors. Kibum stood a few centimetres away, arms still folded.

The doors opened a few moments later and both Minho and Kibum piled inside the small metal box. Minho pressed for the fifth floor, where his shared apartment lived, and watched as the doors closed leaving him trapped in a confined space with Kibum who seemed to make it his goal of the day to be as passive-aggressive as possible.

“I didn’t know Jonghyun had a dog,” Minho then said, trying to lighten the mood.

“You don’t use social media a lot, do you?” Kibum said with an edge of what could possibly be sarcasm. Minho disregarded it.

“I don’t. I find it toxic,” Minho replied with a soft smile. Kibum’s arms dropped to his side. “What kind of dog is she?”

“She’s a dachshund. Imported by his father after he divorced his mother,” Kibum explained.

“Oh,” Minho said slowly, feeling as if he had stepped on a landmine. The doors pinged open once more and Kibum was first out of the elevator, Minho stepping up behind him. “Do you have any dogs?”

He vaguely recalled Jinki telling him that Kibum had two dogs that he loved dearly, but his knowledge did not extend much further than hearsay. Kibum glanced at him.

“I do… Did. Well, still do, _technically_. They live back in Daegu with my parents,” Kibum explained. “They’re poodles. Wanna see?”

“Sure,” Minho said with a smile. He opened his apartment by pressing in another key-code and he let Kibum into his home first. Kibum glanced around for a moment, eyeing up the peeling wallpaper and the old TV and the sofa with a few holes in the upholstery. He sniffed.

But didn’t say a thing.

He pulled his phone out and showed Minho a few photos of his beloved dogs, Comme des and Garcons. “The brown one,” he explained, pointing the small dog with chocolate curls. “Is Comme des, and the other one is Garcons.” He pointed at the black haired poodle with his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth.

“They’re very handsome,” Minho complimented as Kibum pocketed his phones with pink cheeks. “Do you take them to the groomers a lot?”

“I don’t,” Kibum said with a tinge of sadness to his voice. “When I go home to see them, I just take them for walks and feed them. My mum usually takes them to the groomers when their fur is too unruly.”

“That’s cute,” Minho said absentmindedly as he began to dig through one of the closets. He definitely recalled seeing an old blue Frisbee hidden away, the logo having been rubbed off long ago.

Kibum used the opportunity to look a little closer at the apartment, his eyes wandering over to the photo frames sitting on a chipped coffee table. He stepped over a stranded controller to get a closer look. One of them looked like a younger version of Jinki with cropped hair, sitting with Taemin who was holding a massive constructed science project with a ribbon swinging from it. The photo behind that was of Minho, from middle school wearing the school colours of yellow and white, holding a MVP trophy with a big goofy smile on his face. Kibum could actually remember that moment because he had been in the crowd watching with vague interest.

Most of the school was forced to watch school sports events to promote comradery and Kibum was unfortunately part of that. Minho had been impressive to watch as he zipped back and forth across the field, his long thin legs taking him further than Kibum thought possible. Even when it started to rain and he started to pick up mud, streaking his pristine uniform with streaks of black and brown, he still pushed himself forward. He scored two goals for the team (one being a complete accident, much to the amusement of the audience and Minho himself) and had won the award despite the fact that their middle school had lost the game.

Kibum smiled at the photo fondly as Minho, with a gap in his teeth, held the trophy as high as he could with his friends crowding around his feet, painted in sticky mud with white glimmering smiles.

“You okay?” Minho asked from behind. Kibum jumped and spun on his heels to see Minho a few inches behind him, blue Frisbee in his two hands.

“You scared me,” Kibum stammered out and Minho smiled in that cocky way that was nowhere near reminiscent of the innocence that photo of him held.

“What were you looking at?”

“Nothing,” Kibum said, pushing on Minho to get him out of the door. Unfortunately, it felt like Taemin had conjured other plans for them, as Minho immediately caught the controller left strewn across the floor with his heel. It snapped beneath his weight and Minho went tumbling backwards, hands dropping the Frisbee to scramble for anything to hold onto, which had been Kibum’s t-shirt.

Kibum was launched forward as Minho toppled backwards and the two landed on the unclean floor, Kibum’s arms flailing as he landed on top of Minho unceremoniously. Minho let out a gruff groan on impact and his arms came up and around to clutch at Kibum’s shoulders to keep him safe.

They laid there for a long moment, Kibum on top of Minho, feeling Minho’s racing heartbeat under his own, until Kibum had the decency to push himself up. Minho’s eyes fluttered open when he felt the weight be lifted from him and he saw how close he was to Kibum’s face. Kibum was staring at Minho with wide eyes and a parted mouth as he tried to figure out where to go from here.

“Are you okay?” Minho asked breathlessly.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” Kibum asked with a tender smile. “Have you hurt anything?”

“I might have bruised my butt,” Minho groaned out, wiggling a little underneath Kibum. “How about you?”

“My ego is a little damaged,” Kibum joked and Minho coughed out a laugh. Kibum allowed himself to fall into Minho’s gasped puffs of laughter, the way his voice was so deep naturally but seemed to pitch higher whenever he giggled or chuckled. He stared at Minho for what felt like longer than normal before realising he should get up entirely and help Minho to his feet. He climbed back onto his haunches and watched as Minho sat up with a groan. He rolled his shoulder to check if it was dislocated before looking at Kibum.

“You’re staring at me, is something wrong with my face?” Minho asked. He began to wipe at his cheeks and forehead before Kibum shook his head.

“No,” he said softly. “No, you’re fine.” He hadn’t realised just how soft Minho looked from up close, how his lips were pouty and such a unique shape, how he had small, almost invisible beauty marks across his chin and cheek. When Minho stared at him with wide eyes, Kibum could see just how deep and dark his eyes were, how beautifully bronze they shone in sunlight.

No, he thought, you might be perfect.

Kibum climbed up to his feet with red cheeks and helped Minho up onto his. “We should go before the guys realise we’ve been gone too long,” Minho suggested, bending down to pick up the Frisbee at the same time that Kibum decided to do so too. Kibum’s chin met Minho’s crown and the two let out a painful cry. Kibum’s hand clamped around his jaw as searing pain shot up towards his temple and Minho cradled his head as he felt pain jolt down his spine.

“We should go before we get hurt even more,” Kibum bit out and Minho laughed with a slight wince before the two walked out of the apartment together, making sure the door closed shut behind them.

Neither of them talked about what had just occurred, how close they had been to each other. Kibum didn’t mention how pretty Minho’s eyes were and Minho didn’t mention how slight and lightweight Kibum had felt on top of him. Neither of them mentioned the fact that they couldn’t quite keep their hearts from skipping a few beats.

The walk back to the park was quicker than the walk from as Minho was quick-walking and Kibum was running to catch up to his pace, his shorter legs barely keeping in time with Minho’s long ones.

When they came to the park they saw that their group had been split up. Jonghyun and Jinki were sat by the pond talking as Roo chased after a flock of small white birds, and Nicole and Taemin were stood watching them from the bench.

“What are they doing?” Minho asked and Kibum couldn’t find an answer. Then, without warning, Minho kicked himself into a run towards Jonghyun and Jinki before Kibum could even stop him, waving the Frisbee around like a trophy.

Jinki and Jonghyun didn’t even look up as Minho ran over to them, but Roo was indeed overjoyed to see a new contender running over to her. Minho then flung the Frisbee in her general direction and watched with anticipated glee as her short legs chased after it, her long ears flapping behind her like a cape.

Kibum watched on, making his way over to Jinki and Jonghyun as well, with a half-smile plastered on his face. Nicole met up with him halfway across the grass as Taemin decided to keep practising his skateboarding across the pedestrian pavement.

“Was it torture then?” Nicole asked, nudging Kibum gently in the ribs with her elbow. She had a look on her face that suggested she knew everything. Kibum gave her a slow, calculated look.

“It… wasn’t that bad,” he admitted and Nicole grinned. “But it wasn’t great either!”

Nicole just nodded her head with a straight smile. “I believe you,” she said in a sing-song voice. She then turned and watched as Roo ran over to Minho, dropping the Frisbee at his feet. He then bent down, snatched it up, and flung it away. Roo’s head tipped up and over as she watched the round disc fly overhead before spinning around to run after it, mouth hanging open.

“He’s quite good with dogs, isn’t he?” Nicole then suggested. She pulled Kibum over to where Jinki and Jonghyun where sat, watching Roo with fond gazes. “I wonder what he would be like with two boisterous poodles.”

“I’m not bringing my dogs up here just to play with him,” Kibum scoffed.

“I wasn’t suggesting that,” Nicole said innocently. She sat beside Jonghyun and Kibum sat beside her, nearer to Jinki. “I was just simply offering a hypothesis.”

“You can keep your hypothesis,” Kibum sneered. “So, what did I miss?” He then asked Jonghyun and Jinki.

* * *

There was a sense of awkwardness between Jinki and Jonghyun that hadn’t really been present until this moment. When they were in a work environment, it seemed so easy to fall into each other’s presence and to slip into a sense of comfortable talkative atmosphere. But being outside of work felt similar to how they felt when they were in class. Sat at opposite ends of the classroom, offering each other lingering stares when one of them wasn’t looking.

Sometimes Jonghyun became so distracted by Jinki’s profile that he often forgot to fill out some of the lesson worksheets and would have double the homework the rest of the class would, and sometimes Jinki would get so caught up in Jonghyun’s singing voice that he himself would forget how to play the cello or how to sing along with him in harmony.

This time Jonghyun nearly fell into the pond after tripping over his own feet when Jinki sent him a beautifully sunny smile and Jinki nearly fell in after him when Jonghyun let out a carefree laugh, accepting his fate breaking through the surface of the cold pond water.

Thankfully, neither did fall in and there wasn’t a romantic story akin to the meet-cute shared by Anita and Roger in Jinki’s favourite Disney movie, 101 Dalmatians. Instead they were wrapped up in that awkwardness that threatened to sink their sailing relationship before it had even set sail. It hadn’t even been built yet. As far as they were concerned, it was still in the blueprints.

Roo, Jonghyun’s confidant and beloved adopted daughter, could sense the unease between her owner and his new friend who didn’t smell like any of his other friends (he smelled sweeter and less refined, Kibum was always dousing himself in potions that made him smell sharp and undesirable to her delicate nose) and as such put it upon herself to make this a little more lively – by jumping up at Jinki the moment they found a nice spot in the grass to sit and take a look around. She wasn’t a big dog by any means, having been bought purely for the fact that she was miniature, but she was incredibly heavy for a dog her size. The moment she jumped at Jinki, her weight had been shoved onto his unsuspecting body and he ended up toppling down, sprawled across the grass, as Roo licked across his face as if he were the ice-cream treat he had been devouring not a minute earlier.

“Roo!” Jonghyun shouted, trying to swat at her. He could hear Jinki’s groans hidden underneath his laughter as Roo’s weight took a toll on his slim body. “Roo, get away!”

“It’s okay,” Jinki groaned, let out a sharp exhale of pain when Roo’s back paw dug right into his abdomen. “She’s a good girl.”

He stroked at her face, her ears, over her small back and Jonghyun watched with an easy smile as Roo immediately took a liking to Jinki and then, after letting him know just _how much_ she liked him, climbed off of him, content. She gave him a second to sit up and stretch before curling up into his lap and looking at Jonghyun with an expression that could’ve been teasing him.

 _Look_ , she seemed to be saying, _this is how easy it is to get into his lap_.

“So, um,” Jonghyun started, plucking up blades of grass and wrapping the jade green strands around his finger. “Minho and Kibum.”

Jinki let out a soft laugh as he looked up to the sky. The sun shone directly into the left side of his face, causing him to screw one eye shut as he glanced over at Jonghyun, but his smile never seemed to lose its glow.

“Yeah, what about them?” Jinki asked with a mischievous hint to his voice. Jonghyun coughed.

“Does… Um… Minho…” Jonghyun stopped himself because up until this exact moment he had been certain that Minho had been into Jinki and vice versa. “Does Minho like Kibum?”

Jinki gave Jonghyun a funny look, his smile turning straight for a moment before bouncing back into its regular sunny disposition. “You know, I don’t know. Does Kibum like Minho?”

“God no,” Jonghyun scoffed and Jinki frowned a little. “Kibum hates him.”

“Why?” Jinki then asked, watching as Jonghyun continued to pick little bouquets of grass blades.

“Kibum has a vendetta against him for stealing the role of the singing mayor back when we were in high school,” Jonghyun explained flatly. Jinki paused his movements, his hand sitting on Roo’s back – something she did not care for. She wiggled herself around to get his hand to move again and when she realised he was still for good, she climbed out of his lap and began to chase a suspicious flock of brilliantly white birds.

“You’re joking,” Jinki said.

“Nope, dead serious. Kibum was furious when he lost that role to Minho that he wouldn’t speak for days.”

Jinki whistled and started to say something else when Roo’s excitable barking caught both his and Jonghyun’s attention as Minho flung his decade old blue disc across the grass. They watched fondly as she wagged her tail exuberantly before chasing after it, yipping at it as it landed a few feet away.

Kibum was soon walking up behind him with an odd expression on his face but before he could even approach the two, Nicole intercepted him, pulling him alongside with her. Jonghyun watched with a raised eyebrow before he shielded his eyes from the burning sun.

A few minutes later they both took their seat on the grass and Kibum, with a big false smile, asked: “So, what did I miss?”

* * *

It was early afternoon when Jonghyun decided that Roo had had enough excitement for the day. He began to snap his fingers at her, whistling at her, calling out her name to bring her over to him, but she was too excited by Taemin and Minho’s game of catch with her new beloved toy.

Jinki decided to give it a shot. Roo immediately ran over to him the second her name left his lips and Jonghyun watched with a betrayed frown as she sat at his feet. He handed the leash over to Jinki who clipped it to her collar.

“Why don’t we both walk her to yours?” Jinki suggested. “I can get the bus home.”

Jonghyun stuttered for a second, completely flustered by Jinki’s sudden move. It took the urging of Nicole and Kibum for him to actually scramble to his feet, brushing himself down of any stray blades of grass he had pulled from the ground. The two made their way towards the south end of the park, towards Kibum’s accommodation and in the direction of Jonghyun’s penthouse apartment.

Taemin immediately gave up the moment Roo was gone and threw the Frisbee in a random direction before running over to Kibum and Nicole. Nicole handed him a bottle of water that she had picked up during the day after Kibum’s complaints of being thirsty in the baking sun.

“Hey, do you two want to come back to our apartment. We can play some Mario Party or Mario Kart or… just Mario?” Taemin asked with a joyful smile.

“I can’t,” Nicole said with a sad smile. “I have a project to get done for class.”

“You have over a month before school starts again,” Taemin blinked, bewildered.

“It’s a _big_ project.”

Kibum gave his friend a disgusted look. She was a dirty liar, and a bad one at that too.

“But, Kibum would love to join you guys.”

“He would?” Taemin asked in surprise.

“I would?” Kibum asked at the exact same time, with the same surprised expression on his face. “Since when?”

“Since you have nothing else to do,” Nicole said with a smile. She rubbed Kibum’s shoulder with a big smile. “Have fun!”

She then pegged it out of the park, leaving behind her plastic bag full of water bottles and snacks. Kibum glared after her. She was a genuine idiot because she must have forgotten that Kibum knew where she lived and also knew the code to get into her apartment and room. If she thought she would be sleeping peacefully tonight, Kibum had other ideas in mind. But he needed to get some string and a water balloon for that to work.

Minho caught up to him and Taemin, Frisbee in hand. “Where did Nicole go?”

“She had a project to do,” Taemin explained. “But Kibum will play Mario with us, won’t you?”

Taemin had this unfortunate charm to make anyone agree to anything he suggested and not even Kibum could resist the way his bottom lip would jut out into a small pout, his big eyes becoming impossibly bigger and almost teary.

“Fine,” he resigned, getting up and grabbing Nicole’s bag. If she wouldn’t use it, then he would. He took a glimpse into it and discovered that she had gotten flavoured seaweed, candy almonds, and meji strawberry chocolate – all of his favourite snacks.

She had planned this.

“What’s in there?” Minho then asked, leaning forward to grab a look. Kibum immediately became panicked and shoved the bag into Minho’s hands, much to the confusion of Taemin. “Oh cool, candy almonds. – My favourite.”

Kibum blinked. “Your favourite?”

“Yeah,” Minho said, offering Kibum a smile that looked so similar to the one he had worn in that old middle school picture. The air was knocked from Kibum’s lungs in shock. He looked away a few seconds later, his cheeks aflame.

“Let’s go, let’s go!” Taemin then demanded, kicking his skateboard up from where Nicole had been sitting and carrying it across the grass. Both Minho and Kibum stood completely still.

“Are you coming?” Minho then asked and Kibum almost wondered if he was holding his hand out to him. When he finally looked at Minho, he wouldn’t describe the emotion of seeing Minho’s hands still wrapped in the plastic bag as disappointment, but it definitely felt like it.

“Sure, why not,” Kibum said in defeat, following after Taemin, feeling Minho watch him as he walked past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've been dealing with a lot of self-doubt over these past few days so if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment and let me know. even if it's just one word. i just really need to hear something positive right now <3


	11. Chapter 11

Roo definitely preferred Jinki to Jonghyun, this much was evident from the way she kept sending him pleading looks as they walked along the pavement. Her big eyes were sending him watery, begging glances every so often, even when Jonghyun dared to call out her name to grab her attention.

“You should just take her back to yours,” Jonghyun mumbled under his breath. Jinki laughed as he wrapped Roo’s leash a little tighter in his hand as a French bulldog passed them by, waddling with its long, fat pink tongue hanging out from his scrunched up snout.

“I don’t think Taemin and Minho would appreciate it,” Jinki replied. “Besides, I can’t afford to look after a dog and I’m sure she loves you more. I’m just… a distraction.”

Jonghyun gave Jinki a look before hiding a soft smile away from Jinki’s turned eyes. “She is really finicky.”

“See?” Jinki then said, nudging Jonghyun’s arm gently. He immediately looked away with red cheeks when Jonghyun glanced up at him with an amused grin. “I told you,” he added, meekly.

They walked past a long stretch of shops, most of them teeming to the brim with young women and middle aged men with flashy, golden credit cards. In the ladies hands were always a large pile of fancy new designer clothing and a tower of shoes on top. Jonghyun glanced into the shops as they walked by, almost seeing Kibum amongst the women with his two personal shoppers behind him, each carrying a large stack of clothing, that Kibum hadn’t decided if he would wear or not, and the latest trend in shoes.

He laughed to himself.

“What’s so funny?” Jinki asked.

“Just… picturing things,” Jonghyun admitted. “So, um, when you’re not watching Minho’s baseball games and working, what else do you do?”

Jinki’s breath stuttered in his throat. “What else?” Jinki blinked. What else did he actually do other than surf the internet and watch stupid variety shows? Sometimes he watched Taemin play video games and sometimes would watch anime with hi-

“I watch anime,” Jinki said. Jonghyun immediately looked at him with wide eyes in interest. “I love anime.”

“Really?” Jonghyun asked excitedly. “What kind of anime do you watch?”

“Um, well…” Jinki couldn’t remember the name of the anime he and Taemin had binged a few days ago. “I’m not great with names.”

“That’s okay,” Jonghyun said reassuringly. “Just describe, maybe I’ve seen it too.”

“It’s the one about the superheroes…”

“ _One Punch Man_?”

Oh, God, there were two of them! Jinki wanted to melt into the sewer drains and become one with the rats that lived below the city. He certainly felt like he deserved to live there for lying to Jonghyun.

“No,” Jinki said uncertainly. “The other one.”

Jonghyun frowned, eyebrows scrunched together as he thought over and over the library of animes he had seen in his lifetime. “I don’t know,” he then said decidedly. “I’ve only seen One Punch Man.”

Great, Jinki wanted to scream at the sky. He’d spend a whole night watching an anime he couldn’t even remember the name of and Jonghyun hadn’t even seen it. What was the point?

“Alright,” Jinki admitted with a sigh. “I lied. I don’t watch anime.”

Jonghyun stopped and gave Jinki a weird look. “Why did you lie?”

Jinki fidgeted on his feet and chewed on his lower lip. “Because _you_ watch anime.”

Jonghyun let out a sarcastic laugh. “I mean, yeah, but that doesn’t mean you have to lie about watching it. If you don’t like anime, that’s cool too. What else do you like?”

Honestly? Not a lot.

“I enjoy playing video games sometimes. I like playing those peaceful farming simulators.”

“Like _Stardew Valley_?” Jonghyun said and Jinki grinned. Jonghyun had heard of the game he actually played. He nearly sighed in relief, it was so stupidly easy to talk to him, why did he have to make it so difficult?

They turned another corner, away from the long rows of boutique after boutique. They approached a large apartment complex that Jinki had passed on his way to university but never really gave it consideration. His bus stopped at a stop a few buildings down the street from it, but he had never seen anyone come in or out.

The entire building was covered in sheets of one-sided reflective glass. It shone in a crystal blue when the sun hit it from the east and shone a deep navy shade when the sun was in the west. The door always had a big, beefy security guard stood at its golden arches, only allowing the residents with identity cards in and out. From outside the doors, Jinki could see a small fountain in the centre of the reception along with two people stood at a help desk as if the apartment complex was a five-star hotel. There was a vending machine to the left that sold bottles of wine and hot towels, and a row of plush imported chairs that circled a large television.

“Well, we’re here.”

Jinki could hear the sound of glass breaking and he suspected it was his brain malfunctioning because this couldn’t possibly be Kim Jonghyun’s home. His _student home_ , none the less.

“You… you live here?” Jinki asked shakily. He craned his neck to look upwards, the tip of the building lost in the abyss of sky blue and white fluffy clouds.

“Yup,” Jonghyun said with a goofy smile. “Right at the top too. This is actually my dad’s summer place whenever he needs to come to Seoul for work reasons but he’s letting me stay here whilst I study. Sometimes we share the apartment for a few days but most of the time it’s just me and Roo.”

“You live at the top!?” Jinki asked. He couldn’t figure out if he was excited or delirious from shock.

“Yeah, I have a pool and a hot-tub on the roof and the main apartment is separated into two floors.”

Jinki was going to pass out. He had always thought that the apartment he and Minho managed to rent out when they started at university was considered luxury as most of his classmates were either in shitty student housing like Kibum and Nicole, or were still living with their parents. But, compared to Jonghyun’s way of living, his apartment was nothing but the lowest of the low.

“Do you want to come up?” Jonghyun then asked with a sincere smile and Jinki shook his head slowly.

“No thanks,” he said. He had been so naïve. Why on earth did he think that something as trivial as anime would be the thing to win Jonghyun’s affection? Jonghyun was in another world entirely to him. He probably ate his breakfast off of gold plates as it was made for him by actual hired chefs.

Jinki felt dizzy.

Jonghyun’s face fell. “Oh, okay,” he said in a tone that sounded slightly disappointed and Jinki felt angry. What? Did Jonghyun just want to rub his wealth in his face? Did he feel _sorry_ for Jinki?

He handed Roo back to her rightful owner and took a few steps back.

“Jinki, wait,” Jonghyun said, reaching out and taking hold of Jinki’s wrist. “Are you okay? You look pale.”

“I’m fine,” he snapped, trying to yank his arm free.

“Jinki-“

“Jonghyun, I am _fine_. Let me go. I want to go.”

Jonghyun did just that, his face dejected and crest-fallen and Jinki didn’t have time to think of the implications. He had thought, up until this moment, that maybe he had a chance with Jonghyun. Just a small sliver of a chance, but perhaps he had been wrong about that. He seemed to be wrong about a lot of things.

As he took a step away from the building, his heart pounding, the roar in his ears deafening, he suddenly recalled the name of the anime. He turned on his heel to see Jonghyun still staring at him with Roo sitting at his feet. She was staring at him, too.

“The anime is called _My Hero Academia_ ,” he shouted and both Jonghyun and Roo tilted their heads in confusion. “Maybe you should watch it.”

“Okay?”

And with that Jinki walked to the closest bus stop and grabbed the next bus that was heading towards his own flat.

* * *

If hell had a place on Earth, Kibum was sure he was living in it right now. Somehow he had managed to convince himself that spending his precious Sunday afternoon off at Minho’s tacky apartment was a good idea, especially considering that now he was sat on the sofa in the centre of the living area, face-to-face with the floor that only allowed the most embarrassing of images to replay in his mind over and over again. This was certainly not a good idea.

“So, what happened to my controller then if you didn’t step on it!?” Taemin demanded from behind Kibum.

That was another thing; Kibum had forgotten that Minho had snapped one of Taemin’s controllers after tripping over it which ended up leading to the… incident. Minho was acting innocent and Kibum was sat away from the drama, red in the face.

“Maybe you stepped on it,” Minho suggested as he poured some barley tea into three frosted glasses.

“I don’t think so, I would never step on my own things,” Taemin replied.

“You step on your own things all the time!” Minho bellowed. “You stood on your favourite hoodie the day before yesterday and ripped its arm off!”

“That’s only because it was trapped under my chair,” Taemin said.

“Maybe Jinki broke it. Maybe you shouldn’t leave your precious items on a floor where your clumsy older brother can and will step on it.”

Taemin grumbled something under his breath. Kibum heard him open the kitchen bin and something heavy fell to the bottom of a plastic bag with a thump.

“Jinki-hyung owes me a new controller,” he muttered.

“I’ll pay for it!” Kibum then said, the guilt eating at him. He jumped up from the sofa and faced Taemin with pink, burning cheeks, and averted eyes. “I’ll pay for it.”

“Why would you pay for it?” Taemin asked with a raised brow. From his periphery, he could see Minho shooting a very defensive glare over in Kibum’s direction.

“Because I stepped on it. It’s my fault. I stepped on it when I came here with Minho earlier,” Kibum confessed. It wasn’t a lie but it wasn’t the truth. He had pushed Minho, Minho had tripped and broken the controller, so therefore he was the cause of its destruction.

“Oh,” Taemin said softly. He looked at the bin. “That’s okay, Kibum. I shouldn’t have left them out. But thank you, I appreciate it.”

Minho’s jaw dropped and Kibum gave Taemin a smile. Feeling relieved, Kibum sat back on the sofa, feeling the old cushions wear-out beneath him. He was certain at that point that he was sitting on the base of the sofa rather than on the actual cushions.

“So, are we playing Mario or not?” Minho then asked, carrying two glasses of barley tea over to Kibum. He handed one of the glasses over to his guest, not giving him a glance, and Kibum took it with inaudible thanks.

“Oh, right!” Taemin then said and he dashed into his room to grab his console. Minho hovered around the sofa and Kibum shifted to the right slightly, Minho taken the seat to his left, pressing himself up against the arm of the chair.

“How does Taemin afford all of this?” Kibum asked, gesturing to the multiple consoles that littered the floor around the television. They all looked to be state of the art, new models that surrounded a half-a-decade old television. It was like visiting Paris and seeing all the new, bourgeois boutiques surrounding the old-iron Eiffel Tower. It was like stepping out at Harajuku station and seeing a street full of the latest trends and whizzing lights and then turning around and seeing the Meiji Shrine across the bridge.

“He streams,” Minho explained, sipping on his tea. “Honestly before he moved in with us, Jinki and I were struggling to pay rent and food but the moment Taemin came with his streaming money, we were able to make ends meet.”

“He streams?” Kibum asked. He then looked at the old TV, the old, dilapidated sofa, the dusty floors and moth eaten rug, and wondered why Taemin didn’t offer to help spruce the place up.

“He earns a bit, not a lot, but enough to buy the latest games and consoles as well as pay rent and other things.”

Taemin then emerged with a small, sleek black box and two bright, neon controllers. He bent down onto the floor and began to hassle with the wires plugging into the TV.

“Can you see the games on the TV?” Kibum then asked.

“Why are you asking all these questions?” Minho countered. There was a sense of irritation laced in his voice and Kibum immediately snapped his mouth shut. He was aware of how judgemental he sounded towards their lifestyles, especially since he had enough allowance a month to buy this apartment five times over, but he was genuinely curious at the dissonance in the room.

“Minho, don’t be mean,” Taemin snapped as he plugged his Switch into the television and then threw one of the two controllers to Minho. Taemin then bounced over to the sofa. “Budge up.”

Kibum scooted a little further to the right and then Taemin made a gesture that told him to move to the left. Kibum looked at Minho and sighed. He did as he was told, Taemin snuggling himself next to Kibum in a tight fit to his right.

This was hell on Earth, Kibum was certain, squashed between Taemin and Minho on a very small sofa. He was hyperaware of Minho’s exposed skin from his t-shirt brushing against Kibum’s own exposed arm.

“Shall we take turns so that all three of us play one another?” Taemin asked as the screen loaded up, an array of bright, sparkling colours and dizzyingly saccharine music bursting into the room.

“Sure,” Minho said. “Loser trades first.”

Taemin sighed and whispered to Kibum: “Looks like you’ll be taking my controller.”

Kibum gave Taemin a forced smile and watched as Minho meticulously picked a character and a kart designed to give him the best ability. Taemin just went for Yoshi and the Yoshimobile, no changes were made.

The screen loaded up to the randomised first track and Kibum watched as it split into very small halves. He squinted his eyes, failing to even spot Minho’s baby Mario and Taemin’s Yoshi in the crowd of AI controlled karts.

He glanced over at Minho had lurched forward, elbows resting on his knees, as he readied himself. Taemin pulled his feet up from the sofa and unceremoniously rested them on Kibum’s lap. Kibum didn’t have the heart to tell Taemin off and just let him do what he wanted, which he suspected Taemin was likely used to. Taemin was likely the kind of person who was rarely not given what they desired or asked for.

The racing began and Kibum suddenly found a depth of Hell that shouldn’t have existed. Taemin was fidgety as he played, as if he were actually in the kart himself, throwing his body left and right, kicking at Kibum as he got hit by shell after shell and Minho’s arms would throw around, invading Kibum’s personal space.

He couldn’t even reach for his barley tea to quench his thirst on a hot day for fear that Minho would just knock it out of his hands the moment a sharp turn came.

Minho won the race two laps later, throwing his hands in the air and demanding that Taemin call him the king of the Kart. Taemin simply rolled his eyes him, called Minho a bitch, and handed Kibum his controller.

The front door opened before Kibum could ask Taemin to explain how to use the controller and the entire atmosphere grew sullen.

Jinki slammed the door shut behind him and as he walked into the living area, he looked at Kibum. He seemed to scrutinise him, read him all over like he was an open book, before shaking his head and disappearing into his room, to the left of the TV.

“I should go check on him,” Minho decided. “Here, Taemin.”

Taemin snatched Minho’s controller the second it left his fingers and Kibum moved himself up so that Taemin’s feet were no longer resting on his lap and he had some breathing room.

“I’ll go easy on you because you’ve never played before,” Taemin said with a gummy smile and Kibum simply nodded.

“Okay… So… how do I accelerate?”

* * *

Minho stepped into Jinki’s room carefully. In the span of the two seconds Jinki had spent between slamming his door shut and Minho entering, Jinki had managed to close his curtains and duck under the covers of his bed.

“Hyung,” Minho said softly, approaching the bed carefully. “Hyung, what’s happened?”

“Why am I so stupid?” Jinki’s muffled reply came through a second later and Minho frowned.

“You’re not, you’re one of the smartest people I know… next to Taemin.”

Jinki let out a choked sarcastic laugh and Minho laughed through his nose quietly. “I thought that maybe, just maybe, because Jonghyun doesn’t like Kibum, that I would have a chance.”

“You _do_ have a chance!” Minho insisted, sitting at the foot of the bed. Jinki kicked him by accident and then apologised. “Why don’t you think you have a chance?”

Jinki pulled the covers from his face, big, puffy, red eyes glaring at Minho. “Because he’s _rich_ , Minho. Why on Earth would someone like _Jonghyun_ like someone like _me_?”

Minho paused to think. “You think because Jonghyun is wealthy that he wouldn’t be interested in you? Despite the fact that you have a nice personality and are attractive?”

Jinki rolled his eyes and fell back against his bed. “My personality and my good looks do nothing if we have nothing in common.”

“Why do you think you have nothing in common?” Minho asked earnestly. The door to Jinki’s bedroom creaked open ever so slightly and Minho could see Taemin listening in. Kibum was still sat on the sofa but he didn’t make any effort to avoid listening in.

“I tried the anime thing and that didn’t work so I told him I play video games and for a moment it looked like we would bond over something but then, after that we went to his house – Minho, he lives in that giant apartment complex we pass by every day on the way to school!”

“Wait, the Golden Palace?”

“Oh, God, is that what it’s called!?” Jinki cried out, throwing his hands over his eyes and letting out a strangled sob.

“Hyung, you’re being too hard on yourself. Jonghyun will be plenty interested in you, and if he isn’t then he’s a loser. A big, fat loser.”

“Hyung’s right!” Taemin then said, barging into the room, leaving the door wide open. Minho immediately looked up in horror and his eyes met Kibum’s from the sofa. He seemed to be perturbed at the sudden change of events and tried his best to look around the apartment for a distraction.

“Taemin!?” Jinki screamed.

“If Jonghyun won’t like you for you then he’s not worth your time, no matter how long you’ve been pining over him.”

“Wait,” Kibum said softly and Minho turned in the direction of his voice. He got up from the sofa, nearly tripping over another bundle of cables left by Lee Taemin, and approached the room, never breaching past the door frame. “What’s going on?”

Minho turned his attention to Jinki who gave Kibum a weird look. He could almost see the wheels turning in Jinki’s mind as he pieced together Kibum and his relationship to Jonghyun and how he could be helpful to the situation.

“Jinki-hyung-“ Taemin started and Minho leapt up from the bed to clamp a hand over Taemin’s mouth to keep him silent.

Kibum exchanged glances with Taemin, who was under Minho’s control, before turning to glance over at Jinki.

The room became silent as no one wanted to say anything. No one wanted to vocalise the tension.

“You know what,” Kibum then decided. “I’m just gonna go. Thanks for inviting me over.”

There was a look in Kibum’s eyes that suggested that he had heard nearly everything that had been going on in the room and as he turned to leave the apartment, Minho caught up to him.

He was nearly pinned against the door and Kibum’s breath caught in his throat as he looked up into Minho’s serious brown eyes.

“Please,” Minho began. “Please don’t tell anyone what you heard.”

Kibum’s breathing became heavy, Minho’s arms were trapping him to the door and if this were any other circumstance, Kibum would be extremely turned on by the act of dominance.

“I didn’t hear anything,” Kibum simply said, avoiding Minho’s burning gaze. “I didn’t hear a thing.”

Minho held his gaze with Kibum’s face for a long time, determining if he should trust him or not. In the end, he must have decided to trust him, or realised he couldn’t just keep Kibum locked up in his house out of fear. He opened the door and let Kibum slink away.

The moment the door closed, Minho released a heavy exhale that he didn’t realise he’d been holding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> didya think it would be this easy
> 
> didya think i would let it happen so soon
> 
> \--
> 
> thank you to everyone who left a comment on the last chapter, your words were incredibly kind and thanks to all the inspiration you've given me, i've begun to write properly again :)
> 
> I shall be updating tomorrow as well as tonight as I have the whole weekend off (which is incredibly rare in retail wow) so i thought i'd celebrate with a double update!
> 
> Thank you again to everyone who commented and left kudos. You guys are amazing and I want to thank you for keeping my motivation going for this fic <333


	12. Chapter 12

When Kibum awoke the next morning, all he could feel was the heavy sinking at the pit of his stomach. It left a lump in his throat and sent a jolt of anxiety up and down his spine. Watching the ceiling, he waited for time to pass before resigning himself to getting out of bed at 7am. He left the curtains closed for Woohyun, who remained sleeping with his mouth open, snoring like a power drill.

After running through his typical morning routine, he squashed a beanie over his unstyled hair. By the time he stood in front of the mirror, hesitant between leaving and staying, Woohyun woke up. Their eyes met through the mirror, unblinking.

“What’s up with you?” He asked, sitting up slightly, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Oh, you know,” Kibum said with a forced smile. Woohyun raised a brow. “Monday blues.”

“You never get Monday blues,” Woohyun commented. He propped his pillow up and stretched. Kibum used the moment of silence to contemplate over his roommate’s words.

“Sometimes things happen and things change,” Kibum said sadly. Woohyun paused mid-stretch. He watched Kibum for a long second before responding.

“Has something happened?”

It wasn’t exactly something Kibum could just share. Instead he shook his head, word sick, and grabbed his bag and left.

As he reached the bottom floor, he took a moment to peek into the common area. Nicole was sat, back to him, in her work uniform. She was chewing on something and talking to one of her flatmates. Kibum smiled softly and then skipped past and out of the building.

The moment he reached the fresh air, he took in a deep breath. The air was dense, stale like hot stone paths, and clinical like sun lotion. Compared to spring, which smelled fresh, alive, and new, summer felt like a heavy oppression.

As he made it to the subway station, he remained kept to himself. He took an empty seat near the door that lead into another compartment. He kept his eyes low. His phone stayed in his pocket as the train rocked back and forth.

His eyes trained on the floor, his mind wandered. Minho became a bitter taste, and the conversation they shared the previous night replayed, as if he had rehearsed it the night before. There was an implication that he held a power by simply assuming that Jinki and Jonghyun were stuck in a mutual longing. Honestly, he didn’t want to think about it.

The apparent issue relating to Jonghyun’s wealth wasn’t something Kibum could just solve. He’d known Jonghyun since childhood and knew that Jonghyun didn’t see his wealth as anything but a long stack of numbers. It held no value to him.

The train came to a slow stop at Kibum’s station, and as he was lost in his thoughts, was nearly missed. He leapt to his feet in panic and pushed past a crowd of people in professional workwear. They were all fanning themselves with pamphlets, fighting the contained heat.

From the crowded train, Kibum was thrust into a quiet street. He walked towards the shop, not allowing these thoughts to consume him anymore. However, when he looked up for a brief moment, he saw Minho leant against the window, waiting.

Kibum greeted Minho with an unsteady voice. Minho simply gave him a considerate look but didn’t reply.

Kibum decided to try again. “How’s Jinki-hyung?”

Minho’s shoulders sagged. “He’s okay. He’s had a bit of a culture shock, I suppose.”

Kibum inhaled. “Listen, Minho, about Jonghyun-“

 From a small distance, Kibum could hear Seulgi run up. “I’m here!” She called, waving her keys in the air.

“I’m here,” she repeated, doubling over to catch her breath. Kibum and Minho stood, watching her, perturbed. Seulgi then straightened herself up and unlocked the doors, allowing Kibum and Minho entry first.

“You’re late today,” Kibum teased. Seulgi retaliated by sticking her tongue out as she locked the doors from inside.

“I had a disaster,” Seulgi admitted. “My girlfriend hates when I have morning shifts so she ended up switching my alarm off…”

There was a moment of hush between the three of them; all that could be heard was the click of the air conditioner switching itself on.

“Your girlfriend did?” Kibum finally asked and the hush completely dissolved around them.

“Let’s not talk about her sabotaging me,” Seulgi laughed as she ushered the two of them toward the door to the staff room. They cut across the shop and walked up the stairs. The situation remained placated until Kibum threw over his shoulder:

“Does anyone else know?”

Minho walked past him and Kibum faltered behind to walk in tandem with Seulgi.

“Well, a few do, but not everyone. I’d really like to keep it that way,” she said with a worried smile. Kibum squeezed her shoulder reassuringly.

“Your secret is safe with us,” he said to her, giving Minho a look. He stood at the top of the stairs and could only nod in agreement. As Kibum and Seulgi reached him, she threw her arms around Kibum in relief.

* * *

As soon as Kibum and Minho had settled in, they were immediately called down again for team talk. Their trek down the stairs was less amicable than climb up and when Minho took a spot near the register, Kibum decided to take the space next to him. He then felt Minho bristle and move away from him to stand next to Victoria, who had just returned from her holiday.

It boiled his blood like soup over hot fire and he slowly felt his kind resolve break down. His face grew a thousand degrees in temperature and he did his best to hide it behind nonchalance.  

Jimin took a look around the group before giving them a sad smile. “I’m sorry to start this week off with some sad news but Joohyun is going to be leaving us at the end of the week.”

“Oh, no,” Arisa said, long nails scratching at her lower lip anxiously. “Why?”

“She’s been offered a new job elsewhere and we need to wish her the best of luck,” Jimin said with a sad but hearty smile. “That being said we will need a new supervisor to take her place so if you are interested in the position, please put your insight in by the end of tomorrow.” Jimin turned to Kibum and Minho and then addressed Arisa. “Unfortunately, if your contract is only temporary you won’t be able to put yourselves in, for obvious reasons.”

Kibum caught Minho watching him from afar and the moment their gazes met, Minho was immediately looking away from him, indifferent. Kibum sniffed and turned away, feeling his face grow even hotter.

Like always, Jimin ran through the goals of the day and the jobs list. Kibum and Minho were situated on the men’s wear whilst the rest of the bottom floor was split between the other four. The group then dispersed, scattering to their positions. Kibum and Minho trotted up the staircase to the men’s in ice-cold silence.

Once alone, Kibum found his opportunity to turn on Minho. “What’s going on with you?” From below the sound of the front doors unlocking echoed around the shop and soon the sound of silence was overrun by the sound of marching feet and excited shrills.

Minho shrugged, feigning innocence. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” However, the look in Minho’s eyes only read as guilt. He was fully aware that he had no real reason to ignore Kibum.

“You’re being incredibly cold to me,” Kibum pointed out. Minho shuffled some tags were legs strewn across one of the registers. “Why are you ignoring me?”

“Why do you suddenly care?” Minho shot back with a hard stare. Kibum froze. “All this time you’ve done nothing but go on and on about hating me without giving me a reason why and the moment I want some peace from your meddling assholery, I’m the bad guy and you can’t stand it?”

Kibum scuffed a shoe against the floor and averted his eyes from Minho’s glare.

“I’ve been right about you all along. You’re conceited, stubborn, and selfish. I don’t know why you were suddenly eager to play with Taemin yesterday but-“

Kibum couldn’t help it. It spluttered out of him like a broken coffee machine. It started off as a bubble of nothing at the base of his throat but it spilled out in a low chuckle. Minho’s face turned a deep shade of red, almost purple, and a vein made itself pronounced on his forehead.

“Why the hell are you laughing?” He demanded to know.

“You’re jealous,” Kibum sussed, his chuckles dying down in place with pure mirth. “Is that it? You’re jealous because I wanted to hang out with Taemin and not you?”

“I’m not jealous,” Minho scoffed. Kibum didn’t argue with him, having planted the seed in his mind. Minho turned stone serious after a moment. “You knew that Jinki liked Jonghyun, didn’t you?”

Kibum’s laughter died completely and he stared at Minho with wide, round eyes. Words were suddenly lost to him, decaying on the tip of his tongue.

“And I knew you were going to tell Jonghyun so that you could both make fun of him for it. That’s exactly what rich, spoilt boys like you do.”

Kibum laid his hands out in front of him, palms up, like a pack of playing cards.

“Firstly,” he started with a calm affliction. “I didn’t know Jinki liked Jonghyun until now. All I had was an inkling.”

The colour drained from Minho’s face, the golden glow turning a horrible shade of pale.

“And secondly, I don’t make fun of people for liking people. That’s uncool. And thirdly, if you think I’m anything like those snobby private school losers you see on TV, you are dead wrong.”

Minho’s face began to transition back to his golden stature.

“Yes, I get a bit more allowance and I indulge in the finer things in life. But I live just like you and Taemin – in a student housing. I take public transport, and I binge on instant noodles when I’m too tired to make real food.” Kibum counted all of this off on his fingers before jamming his final point in the centre of his palm.

“I didn’t know that Jinki liked Jonghyun but Taemin’s announcement definitely made it suspect.”

Minho sunk to his haunches, hands buried in his hair.

Kibum crossed his arms. “What’s up now?” He asked with an eye-roll. When Minho didn’t answer, Kibum tapped his foot against the floor impatiently. “Well?”

“I just told you Jinki’s biggest secret. Please don’t tell Jonghyun,” Minho pleaded, looking up through his fingers. Kibum rolled his eyes again.

“I’m not gonna tell Jonghyun, even though he’d be elated to hear it because Jonghyun is mad for Jinki too.”

“What are you saying?” Minho asked, his face taking on a new arrange of colours. This time, pink with delight.

“I’m saying that my best friend likes your best friend. Jonghyun and Jinki like each other mutually,” Kibum explained slowly, as if spelling it out for a child. Minho jumped up and punched the air in exhilaration.

“You know what this means, though, right?” Minho then asked, nearly hopping on the spot. Kibum raised a brow in question. “We need to help set them up.”

“Oh, no no no,” Kibum immediately declined, shaking his head vehemently. “I refuse to get involved in other people’s business. They have more than enough chances to get this whole confusion settled between them and I vote we should let them do their own thing.”

Minho’s eyes narrowed as a small, but suspicious smile formed on his lips. “You vote, huh? Maybe we should leave that to the majority democracy.”

“W-what does that mean?” Kibum stuttered.

“Let’s ask Nicole and Taemin what they think.”

“No,” Kibum immediately said with even more vehemence than before. “No, because I will get out-voted.”

“Exactly,” Minho said, his smile growing by the second and Kibum grew heated. “Exactly.”

There was something incredibly endearing in how Minho played the role of a leader well. He had a tactful way of speaking and planning and whilst Kibum admired it most of the time, something about this didn’t settle right in his stomach. All he could do is wait.

* * *

After the end of their shift, Kibum and Minho converged outside a small café (that wasn’t Mee-cha) as they waited for Nicole and Taemin to arrive. Kibum had texted Nicole the meet-up place as well as emphasis on the state of emergency so she wouldn’t avoid the message. Minho had texts Taemin telling him that he was in the mood to treat him to ice-cream.

To the left of them, Nicole emerged wearing her work uniform. She stuck out in white, pink, and blue polka dots. And from the right came Taemin wearing joggers that were loose around the waist and a short sleeved baseball shirt and flip flops. The moment Taemin spotted Minho and Kibum he waved his arms wildly above his head, attracting the attention of passers-by. Minho slapped a hand to his face in embarrassment.

When Nicole and Taemin both approached Minho and Kibum, they shared looks of equal surprise. Taemin looked at Kibum and then at Nicole before giving Minho a suspicious glance. Minho shoved him into the café so he could order his ice-cream. Nicole watched them before giving Kibum a shit-eating grin.

“Whatever you’re thinking, don’t,” Kibum said the moment he noticed the smile.  

She cackled. “Sure.”

Kibum and Nicole followed Minho into the café. Taemin stood at the counter, ordering his choice of ice cream whilst Minho added an iced coffee onto the list. Nicole tacked on with an iced green tea doused in rose syrup. Minho then glanced to Kibum who requested the same.

They collected their desserts and walked over to a table. Minho handed Taemin his ice-cream sundae drizzled in dark chocolate syrup and candied, chopped almonds. Minho, Kibum, and Nicole then sucked down on their drinks, remaining silent whilst Taemin was oblivious, licking his spoon in delight.

After a few minutes of the awkward silence passed, everyone’s desserts nearly half finished, Minho spoke up: “So, this isn’t really a typical after work meet-up.”

Taemin snorted and scooped up some more vanilla ice-cream. “This better be important, hyung, I’m in the middle of _Durarara!!_ and I want to know who Saika is.”

“It _is_ important,” Kibum said.

“What’s going on?” Nicole asked. She frowned. “Has something happened?”

Kibum sat back in his seat, fingers together and pressed to his lips. He wanted to give her the theatrics of the whole previous day and the lead up to now but instead he said: “We have some pretty big revelations.”

Nicole’s glare could only be described as sarcastic.

“It’s true,” Kibum said, indignantly.

Another silence fell upon them and the chatter of the shop around them fell into background noise. Kibum closed his eyes, feeling himself drawn to the words he could hear. From the right of him, he heard Minho inhale before speaking.

“Taemin, you know about Jinki’s adoration for Jonghyun, right?”

Kibum opened his eyes to see Taemin’s widen in horror. He glanced at Kibum and Nicole in mild panic.

“Wh-what?”

“It’s okay,” Minho said. “Kibum knows.”

To confirm this, Nicole looked over at Kibum who only gave her a nod. She threw her hands in the air with groan.

“I mean, it’s more than just adoration,” Taemin admitted with pink cheeks. “He truly _loves_ Jonghyun-hyung.”

“Oh, my,” Nicole whispered. “Are you serious?”

“Deadly,” Kibum said with a smirk. “And Nicole, you are aware of _Jonghyun’s_ adoration for _Jinki_?”

“I mean, I thought everyone was aware that Jonghyun’s completely in love with him,” Nicole blurted out without a second thought.

Taemin slammed a hand down on the table. “Are you telling me that Jinki-hyung and Jonghyun-hyung _love each other_?”

“Yes,” Minho and Kibum said simultaneously. Taemin clapped his hands together as Nicole began to giggle to herself.

“Kibum doesn’t want to get involved,” Minho branched off, gesturing to his partner in crime. “But what do you two think?”

“I…” Nicole paused for thought. Her eyes trained on the drink in front of her. Within the depths of her tea she could see the strands of the syrup that hadn’t completely dissolved. Then, still without saying a word, she picked up the cup and drank some more until she emptied it.

“I think we should let Jonghyun and Jinki figure it out for themselves,” she concluded. Kibum smirked.

“No way,” Taemin immediately said. He shook his head a few times to prove his point. “We have to push them together or else they’ll never get together.”

“Never say never,” Nicole countered. “If they both love each other then they’ll come together. Fate is aligned.”

Taemin shook his head. “Fate doesn’t exist. Have you seen _My Love Story!!_?” The table fell silent and Taemin sighed. “The main character, Takeo, mistakes the girl he likes for liking his best friend Makoto and the love story only begins when the girl, Rinko, confesses her attraction to Takeo. Neither Jinki-hyung, nor Jonghyun-hyung, are Rinko in this story: they are both Takeo. _We_ need to be the Rinko in their love story!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Nicole confessed blankly. “But have you never seen a drama? The love interests will always get together if they’re destined to be together, whether or not there is a third or fourth person involved.”

“I don’t watch dramas,” Taemin admitted.

Taemin and Nicole continued their exchange like tennis players in the middle of a match. Kibum felt a small smile fall over his face and when he glanced over at Minho for a brief minute, he saw the exact same smile on him too. Minho then shifted in his seat, his arm brushing against Kibum’s. They glanced down and then at each other before jumping away. Suddenly, Kibum felt more aware of Minho’s presence than ever before, he gave off a glow that made Kibum feel too warm all over.

He didn’t see the way Minho shot him a lingering glance. He was more concerned about Nicole and Taemin’s argument having moved from Jinki and Jonghyun to love story tropes and clichés.

“Wait a second,” Minho then suddenly said, slamming his cup of iced-coffee down on the table. Nicole and Taemin ceased their arguing and both cast a curious glance over at Minho. “In _Much Ado About Nothing_ , Claudio asks Don Pedro to help him get with Hero.”

“Okay? But how does that help our situation?” Kibum asked.

“Well, obviously we have a Claudio and a Hero and one of us needs to be Don Pedro,” Minho explained as if it were simple.

“Good idea, genius,” Kibum said sarcastically. “Which one are we gonna talk to? The oblivious one… or the oblivious one?”

Nicole and Taemin hid their laughter behind their hands. Minho shook his head.

“Don’t be dumb. We have to convince both of them. Look, the simple way-“

“I told you that I wasn’t going to get involved,” Kibum reminded him and Minho snapped his mouth shut, his gaze falling to the table.

Nicole spoke up next, having already made her decision: “Kibum, do you want Jonghyun to moping around for the rest of the year because he didn’t have the balls to ask Jinki out even though they _work_ together nearly every day.”

Kibum shuddered at the idea. “Alright. I guess I’ll do it.”

“We’ll all do it,” Minho suggested. “Taemin and I are on team Jinki, you two are on team Jonghyun. Do whatever you can to convince him… Just make it look natural.

Having decided on a plan the table fell silent for a second more before Taemin piped up:  “This is exciting! This is way better than any anime I’ve ever seen.”

“Oh, my God,” Kibum lamented, falling back in his seat. He rubbed at his temple, counting back the scenes that had just played. What kind of mess had he ended up getting himself involved in? Something gave him the bittersweet feeling that this would come back to bite him somehow.

But, if it meant that Jonghyun would finally be happy with Jinki, then he could handle any of the repercussions when they came.

If they came.


End file.
